US-based Netflix is expanding its operations in Africa, where it hopes to become the largest digital streaming company. Its competition, especially in South Africa, is MultiChoice’s Showmax.

Specific subscriber numbers for these services in Africa are hard to come by. Late last year, global tech research company Omdia declared Showmax the new leader, with 2.1-million subscribers on the continent in November 2023 compared with Netflix’s 1.8-million subscribers.

The bulk of these subscribers are in South Africa, where the streaming audience still favours Netflix. There are 1.2-million Netflix subscribers in South Africa versus Showmax’s 937,000 subscribers, according to the UK’s Digital TV Research.

Amazon Prime trails some way behind Showmax, with 391,000 subscribers. Disney+ has 312,000 subscribers directly paying for the platform from South Africa. Digital TV Research did not include subscribers who get Disney+ through their DStv package.