As subscription OTT services reach saturation in many mature markets, they are increasingly on the lookout for new opportunities to grow their subscriber base. Towards the end of the 2010s,  APAC emerged as the new battleground for the global streamers. But with its latest deal, Netflix is now casting its eye on the markets in Sub-Saharan Africa, hoping to replicate the success it’s had elsewhere. 

Starting from July 2025, Canal+ subscribers will be able to access Netflix directly through their pay TV platform across 24 French-speaking markets in Sub-Saharan Africa, such as Ivory Coast, Senegal and Cameroon. Customers will be able to opt for bundled packages which include TV channels and Netflix at a discounted rate, similar to the existing offering available for customers of Canal+ in France and Poland. 

For Netflix, this partnership presents a significant opportunity to expand its audience in Sub-Saharan Africa. The platform currently has around 4.5m subscribers in the region, accounting for less than 2% of its global subscriber base. Low uptake in the region is due to several factors that make it a challenging environment for Internet-based streaming players: the dominance of pay TV; high price of OTT services relative to local income level, and low Internet connectivity. But by partnering with the pay TV giant Canal+, Netflix will immediately gain access to Canal+’s 8.2m subscribers across Sub-Saharan markets. Furthermore, discounted bundles with Canal+ could prove attractive to new customers in a highly price-sensitive region. At the moment, Netflix remains one of the region’s more expensive SVoD services, with an average revenue per user (ARPU) of approximately $5.70, compared to ~$2.90 for MultiChoice’s Showmax, a leading regional SVoD with 1.45m subscribers. 

The new Canal+ partnership also aims to address limitations in an existing deal in the region between Netflix and another leading pay TV operator, DStv. With 10.7m subscribers, DStv (now jointly owned by MultiChoice and Canal+) has allowed customers to add a Netflix subscription to their pay TV package at full retail price since late 2020. However, the service is not part of a discounted bundle, while over 80% of DStv’s subscriber base is concentrated in South Africa and Nigeria alone, so Netflix’s presence in the region through this deal is relatively limited. 

The focus of this new partnership for  Netflix is its enhanced access to Canal+’s 24 French-speaking markets, to which it lacked access under the existing DStv partnership. The streamer will be banking on its popular French original titles, such as Lupin and Sous la Seine, to move the needle in these markets. 

With this latest partnership, Netflix will secure much broader reach across Sub-Saharan Africa: It will soon have access to both Canal+’s 8.2m subscribers — primarily in French-speaking markets — as well as DStv’s subscribers, with minimal overlap between the two audiences. Though Netflix is already the leading SVoD service in the region, this deal is poised to reinforce its market position and, more importantly, drive subscriber growth that can contribute meaningfully to its global revenue.