Netflix to pledge over R900 million in SA creative industry

With the success of South African stories on the streaming platform Netflix, the company has pledged to invest R929 million worth of investment into the creative industry this year.

According to Netflix Vice President for Public Policy EMEA, Professor Madeleine de Cock Buning, the company has created more than 7000 jobs in the country.

“As Netflix we see operating in South Africa as an untapped opportunity. We are encouraged to keep investing because the country has beautiful stories. We strongly believe that the creative sector and much largely the TV and film sector are extremely impactful for economic growth and jobs. That cannot be underestimated,” she said on Thursday.

Addressing the fifth South Africa Investment Conference (SAIC) taking place in Johannesburg, Buning said the company wanted to build on the success of shows like Unseen, which is currently in the top ten of the global watched shows in 48 countries.

“We are extremely proud of Unseen. It is a great series and is loved throughout the world… that tells us that African stories and culture is appreciated throughout the world,” she said.

“If you look at the government policy objective, we think that the sector can contribute to job creation, capital development, infrastructure development and economic empowerment.

“We really want to show the beauty and diversity of South Africa, which has several cultural and economic effects. This includes direct investment; the wider economy that profits such as hairdressers, hotels, security and carpenters. It has a ripple effect. On top of that there is cultural and tourism effects that we have researched together with the South African Tourism office.”

Research has shown that people from around the world are 3.1 times more likely to visit South Africa after they have seen a show on Netflix.

Netflix is available in more than 190 countries and has at least 230 million subscribers.

She encouraged government to cut the red tape to access the film incentive and described the regulatory environment as challenging.

Meanwhile, Tourism Business Council CEO Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa welcomed the announcement by the President during the conference to overhaul the work visa system to provide a further boost to investment.

This includes decentralising the adjudication of visa applications to foreign missions and streamlining application requirements to reduce the timeframes for obtaining a work visa.

South Africa will be expanding the e-Visa system to include an additional 20 countries over and above the 14 that are currently eligible, as well as extend the e-Visa system to cover new visa categories such as study, business and intra-company transfer visas.

“That is a fantastic thing as it makes it easier for people to visit the country and apply for a visa online. This means that as a country we are expanding across the world and we are accessible digitally,” Tshivhengwa said.

Airbnb Regional Lead, Middle East Africa, Velma Corcoran, said there is a direct correlation between countries that implement an e-Visa system and an increase in travel.

While the country is facing load shedding, the rising cost of living and an increase in interest rates, Corcoran said the country’s tourism sector is extremely resilient. This was evident during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Even through COVID-19 we saw some interesting trends. Firstly, we saw South Africans start to travel. We saw an increase in domestic travel. In 2020, which was a crisis year, the Airbnb contributed R8.8 billion to the South African economy and supported 22 000 jobs just on domestic tourism alone.

“We also saw South Africans travelling to all of the villages, towns and dorpies within the country. We saw a dispersion of tourism and a model like Airbnb is well suited to that.

“South Africans wanted to get out of their homes. They wanted to explore places that were close by. They wanted to travel to friends and family and they chose homes in places that were quite close,” she said.

People in those towns were able to make an income out of tourism and when people were travelling there, they were spending money in the local economy.

“Also with people not being tethered to their places of work meant that we started to see trends in remote working and people staying longer. Our fastest growing category is guests that are staying for 28 days plus.”

[WATCH] Professor Madeleine de Cock Buning from Netflix talk about the importance of the creative economy as it contributes to economic growth and job creation. She also talks about the investments that Netflix has made in SA #SAIC2023 pic.twitter.com/0OP0XX2GHF

— @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) April 13, 2023

Corcoran said bringing people from previously disadvantaged communities into the sector has been a challenge as they have issues accessing finance and being confident to host.

“Over the last four years, we have run a programme to assist previously disadvantaged communities with the skills to host and teach them how to be successful on the platform. We need government and the private sector to think of solutions to overcome these challenges,” she urged. – SAnews.gov.za