General
AFCON 2023: Nigerian Content Creators See 200% Rise in Revenue, Views
By Adedapo Adesanya
Content creators in Nigeria saw a 200 per cent increase in views and revenue between December 2023 and February 2024, a new study shared with Business Post showed.
According to new data released by StarNews Mobile, an African video streaming platform, content creators across Africa experienced a 300 per cent surge in revenues during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) held between January 13 and February 11, 2024, reaffirming the massive surge in consumption of hyper-localized content from the continent.
Based on metrics from StarNews Mobile’s platform, creators in Nigeria were only outshone by their peers in Cameroon and Cote D’Ivoire which saw 300 per cent and 400 per cent increases in viewers and revenue respectively between December 2023 and February 2024.
In total, the company streamed more than 4 million pieces of content per month to football fans via its AFCON-related channels, amassing 500,000 subscribers for content specifically related to the tournament.
“Whilst one of the main conversations of this year’s AFCON has been the commercial growth of African sport, these statistics reinforce the revolution in another one of the continent’s fastest-growing sectors – the content space.
“Based on the data, there’s undoubtedly a huge demand for quality, hyper-localized content from African creators but if we want to effectively unlock the full potential of this market opportunity, it’s vital we empower both sides of the marketplace,” the chief executive and founder of StarNews Mobile, Mr Guy Kamgaing, said.
“With this in mind, it’s simply not enough to just provide a platform for African creators to express themselves. We need to invest in their success by equipping them with the financial stability, independence, and freedom to create so they can fully leverage the massive value the continent and its diaspora’s 1.2 billion consumers hold,” he added.
Launched in 2017, StarNews Mobile empowers African content creators with the unique opportunity to monetize their work through a subscription model, boasting over 4 million subscribers and a thriving community of more than 120 content creators.
With a strong presence across six countries including Cameroon, Nigeria, Côte D’Ivoire, Congo, Benin and Ghana, the platform has also established key partnerships with major telecom operators such as MTN and Orange.
To date, StarNews Mobile has secured over $8 million in funding with its most recent raise – a $3 million pre-Series A funding round in October 2023 – led by Janngo Capital with participation from French football players Aurélien Tchouaméni, Jules Koundé, and Mike Maignan.
The global creator economy stands at an estimated worth of $20 billion and with the world’s youngest population, there is an emerging class of African content creators ready to capitalise on the sector’s potential. However, despite this, differences in international payment methods, cellular data limits, and even certain cultural differences establish major barriers for African creators and influencers to monetize their content with traditional platforms.
However, through its partnerships with local mobile providers, StarNews Mobile can bill subscribers directly to their phone and leverages SMS technology to eliminate the roadblocks surrounding payments and data limits respectively. Creators can also charge their followers a small daily or weekly fee, limiting their reliance on ads and elevating the content of the quality provided as they focus on engaging and retaining their followers.
Leveraging its partnership with Orange – one of the main sponsors of AFCON 2023 – StarNews Mobile launched a series of initiatives to boost fan engagement with this year’s tournament including creating physical fan zones across its markets, data subscription bundles and virtual channels on its platform dedicated to the tournament.
According to sports analytics platform, Opta, the 2023 AFCON has been one of the most exciting in the tournament’s history with this year’s group stage alone recording an average goals-per-game rate of 2.47, making this AFCON’s highest-scoring tournament in 15 years.
With the Confederation of African Football(CAF), the organisers of AFCON 2023, securing a 100 per cent increase in applications for media accreditations to cover the event alongside extensive global broadcasting deals, the tournament has broken into a new threshold of worldwide popularity.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has launched a mobile application designed to monitor fuel consumption patterns in real time across retail outlets nationwide.
The NMDPRA, established under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, is responsible for the technical and commercial regulation of Nigeria’s midstream and downstream petroleum operations. The deployment of the mobile application aligns with the authority’s broader efforts to leverage technology to improve regulatory compliance and strengthen accountability.
The pilot phase of the project began on August 1 in Abuja and its six Area Councils, the authority said in a statement published on X.
As part of the rollout, the Executive Director for Distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure (DSSRI), Mr Ogbugo Ukoha, led a team alongside officials from the Abuja Regional Office to assess the readiness and operational performance of the digital platform at participating retail outlets.
According to the NMDPRA, the application captures inventory and compliance data in real time, enabling regulators to monitor fuel distribution more effectively while improving operational efficiency across the sector.
The authority said the platform would generate reliable, data-driven insights to support evidence-based decision-making, strengthen national energy security planning and enhance transparency in the downstream petroleum industry.
It added that the initiative is expected to provide significant value to government, investors, operators and other stakeholders by improving access to accurate fuel consumption and compliance data.
Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector has undergone significant changes since the deregulation of the petrol market and the removal of fuel subsidies, with regulators placing greater emphasis on data-driven supervision to ensure product availability, prevent supply disruptions and discourage sharp regional disparities in distribution.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
No doubt, moving money among African markets remains a slow, fragmented process that relies on multiple intermediaries and prolonged settlement cycles.
To solve this issue and drive the development of stablecoin-enabled payment services for businesses across the continent, Onafriq has joined forces with a leading stablecoin infrastructure provider, Privy.
The collaboration will enable Onafriq to create and manage embedded digital asset solutions for its partners and, in time, institutional clients where regulation allows. The initial phase focuses on cross-chain stablecoin transfers and treasury and settlement workflows, creating the foundation for future cross-border payment and liquidity solutions.
Integrating Privy’s secure infrastructure enables Onafriq to build the capabilities required to support a new generation of efficient digital payment services for banks, fintechs, and mobile money operators.
This partnership is a key component of Onafriq’s broader strategy to modernise pan-African payment infrastructure, enabling secure multi-modal wallets and more efficient movement of value across the continent.
The outcome will support a range of future institutional use cases, including stablecoin-enabled settlement, treasury management and liquidity services, as it reflects Onafriq’s commitment to driving Africa’s digital transformation agenda by investing in technologies that make financial services more efficient, connected and accessible.
It was gathered that Onafriq selected Privy for its enterprise-grade infrastructure to enable the seamless integration of digital asset wallet capabilities into its products, subject to regulatory approval, and deliver a simple user experience while abstracting the complexity of blockchain technology.
“At Onafriq, we keep investing in technology that makes payments faster and more accessible. Privy gives us a building block for faster settlement and better liquidity management. As demand for digital asset services grows, our goal is to ensure Africa’s payment ecosystem benefits securely and in line with regulatory frameworks,” the Group Chief Product and Innovation Officer at Onafriq,” Mr Luke Kyohere, said.
The chief executive of Privy, Mr Henri Stern, said, “Stablecoins will play an increasingly important role in the future of global payments, but real-world adoption depends on infrastructure that is secure, scalable and simple to implement. Working with Onafriq allows us to help build that foundation across Africa and beyond.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Osun State Government has announced plans to institute legal action against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), following an alleged freezing of the state’s bank account, describing the action as unlawful and capable of disrupting governance.
The Governor of the state, Mr Ademola Adeleke, through the state’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Oluwole Jimi-Bada, made this disclosure on Wednesday.
According to the statement, Governor Adeleke has directed him to challenge the anti-graft agency’s decision at the Federal High Court.
It was widely reported that the anti-graft agency issued a “Post No Debit” directive to the management of First Bank, where the state’s accounts are domiciled, effectively restricting transactions.
He argued that while the commission has the authority to investigate financial records, it cannot freeze a state government’s accounts without first obtaining a court order.
“I have the mandate of the governor to proceed to the Federal High Court to challenge this move. EFCC can investigate the accounts, but it can’t freeze the accounts without an order of court.
“This step will affect government running, but we will challenge the move and ensure that the agency acts within the ambit of the law,” Mr Jimi-Bada said.
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Finance, Mr Sola Ogungbile, alleged that police officers stormed the main branch of First Bank in Osogbo and arrested some members of the bank’s staff.
Mr Ogungbile maintained that Governor Adeleke was not deploying state resources for his re-election campaign and urged the EFCC to consider the potential impact of its actions on public services and the welfare of residents.
Governor Adeleke had earlier raised concerns over an alleged plan by the EFCC to freeze all Osun State Government accounts, including those of senior government officials.
In a statement issued by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr Kolapo Alimi, the governor described the reported move as unlawful and politically motivated.
He alleged that the planned freezing of the accounts was intended to cripple government operations ahead of the August 15 governorship election.
Governor Adeleke further insisted that there was no legal justification for freezing the state’s accounts, arguing that the EFCC lacks the authority to take such action against a state government without due legal process.
The EFCC had not issued an official response to the allegations as of the time of filing this report.
