Amazon Prime Video today, announced the launch of the localized version of its streaming service in one of Africa’s biggest markets—Nigeria. Just as it did in Southeast Asia some days back, the tech giant is attempting to boost its subscriber push in new markets like Africa by increasing its investment in local production, unveiling slates of localized originals (in the works) and introducing discounted Amazon Prime membership offerings to customers.
Amazon Prime Video launched in Africa in 2016 as part of its global push across more than 200 countries worldwide bringing some serious competition to Netflix’s global plan launched that same year. However, the versions of the service available in the region have never featured the local-language interfaces, subtitling and original content offerings that are common in more developed markets.
That changes today in Africa, at least in Nigeria, as the company plans to launch in other markets like South Africa. In a tweet made by its official account, Prime Video Naija, the company made it clear that customers can stream original TV shows and movies within the Prime Video ecosystem such as The Boys. According to its website, this will cost ₦2,300/month after customers enjoy a seven-day trial. Thus, for the first time, users in Nigeria will be able to subscribe to Prime Video using the local currency and unlike how most have accessed the platform for specific region-specific content in the past, would not require a VPN to stream content on the platform.
Amazon said its first Nigerian show will be Gangs of Lagos, a local original crime action movie that follows the lives of three friends as they navigate the streets of Isale Eko in Nigeria’s commercial city, Lagos, scheduled to be ready for launch this year.
This is a developing story…
source: TechCrunch
