This is the Gen Z era! When it comes to media and entertainment, Gen Z users already represent the influential youth cohort. Now, they are becoming the decisionmakers who drive markets. Nowhere is this more evident than the entertainment and media (E&M) sector. And in no continent on earth are Gen Z becoming more influential than in Africa.

Africa famously has the youngest population in the world, with 70% of the people in Sub-Saharan Africa being under 30. This youth cohort is already making its presence felt in African society, getting involved in decision-making as well as political activism  for instance, in the #EndSARS protests in Nigeria and the Finance Bill protests in Kenya.

Gen Z users are equally passionate about the content they wish to see. At the same time, Africa's Gen Z is not just about consuming content; they're creating it, and they’re helping to curate it through the power of mobile technology and social media.

For modern media to be relevant, it must express the voice of the Gen Z community. That does not mean “working out what young people want”. It’s about empowering Africa’s young creators to tell their own stories. These authentic stories are the narratives that will resonate with their peers, allowing them to make sense of the world and connect on their own terms.

In terms of media channels, this generation still has a relationship with traditional media like television, but TV is often consumed alongside short-form social-media content and online streaming platforms.

Entertainment and media, though, remain staples of the Gen Z lifestyle. The PwC Africa Entertainment and Media Outlook 2024–2028 report projected that in Nigeria, for instance, OTT streaming would show a 10.5% compound annual growth rate, while linear TV was set to grow 8.1%. In Kenya the projections are for 10.9% in OTT and 3.2% in linear TV.

When it comes to content, attention spans may be shorter, but there is also a demand for greater authenticity. A recent EY survey found that authenticity was the most important value for Generation Z.

This makes it even more important that today’s media authentically reflect the lives of its audiences through content that expresses their values, and all their vibrant diversity.

For African media and content platforms, this presents challenges, but also opportunities. If you’re able to capture the imagination of a generation of digital natives, you unlock a long-term relationship with an audience of passionate users. In Africa, the most successful media channels are those who have taken a collaborative approach, enlisting young creatives to tell the stories of their own generation.

MultiChoice, Africa’s leading entertainment company, has made this a reality through the MultiChoice Talent Factory (MTF), which has three academies in African capitals Lusaka, Lagos and Nairobi training young aspirant filmmakers in storytelling, and the techniques of television and film production. 

Every year, 60 trained and qualified film professionals graduate from MTF academies  directors, producers, scriptwriters and others ready to enter the industry and help shape its output much of it via the hyperlocal MultiChoice output on its DStv, GOtv, Showmax, M-Net and SuperSport platforms, which reach up to 23.5 million households in 50 markets across sub-Saharan Africa.

Through its year-long, fully funded academy training programmes, as well as industry networking platform the MTF Portal, and ongoing mid-career training and mentorship masterclasses, MTF empowers Africa’s Gen Z creatives to tell their own, authentic stories and to share their unique perspectives with the world.

As part of their courses, MTF graduates themselves produce powerful, award-winning movies that resonate with what’s happening on the continent and which regularly premier on MultiChoice channels in major markets.

These MTF successes exemplify the fundamental transition that modern media has undergone. Viewers have become creators. Enabling this in the TV and film space has been one of the keys to the MultiChoice success, informing top-line content with a major Gen Z viewership.

Big Brother Naija, for instance, generated 1.8 billion votes in a single season. East African Showmax Originals Pepeta and The Real Housewives of Nairobi won Viewers’ Choice and Best TV Show awards at the 2024 Kalasha Awards. GH Queens won an Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Award for Best Unscripted Series.

This is the mainstreams of modern entertainment; these are the stories of Africa today. Increasingly, it is the young TV and film professionals of Generation Z who are telling them.