Remi Ogunpitan, Founder and Chairman of IBST Media, has called on media platforms operating across the continent to urgently rethink their over the top streaming strategies, arguing that Africa’s video ecosystem does not suffer from weak audience interest but rather from business models that fail to reflect local consumption realities.

Speaking through a detailed post shared on his LinkedIn page, he explained that many global streaming operators entered African markets with assumptions shaped by European and North American experiences.

However, he stressed that those assumptions quickly created friction because they overlooked the continent’s mobile first viewing culture and its advertising driven media economics. As a result, several platforms struggled to translate audience attention into sustainable revenue performance.

According to him, the dominant rollout pattern followed a predictable sequence. Platforms built proprietary applications, acquired premium content libraries, introduced subscription structures and then expected rapid adoption to follow.

Yet, instead of delivering scale, that approach repeatedly exposed a disconnect between platform expectations and audience realities. Consequently, he argued that subscription heavy models alone cannot carry the future of streaming growth in Africa.

Importantly, Ogunpitan strongly rejected the suggestion that African audiences lack appetite for video content. On the contrary, he emphasised that viewers across the continent actively watch, share, remix and discuss digital video every day.

Therefore, he maintained that demand already exists. Attention already exists. Cultural participation already exists. What weakens performance, he explained, is the attempt to transfer expensive subscription expectations into price sensitive economies where streaming costs extend far beyond monthly platform fees.

He further clarified that the real economics of streaming in Africa include multiple hidden layers. Audiences must first secure reliable internet access.

They must then manage data costs. They must also navigate device limitations and payment barriers. Consequently, he noted, subscription only strategies frequently encounter resistance even when content quality remains strong.

At the same time, Ogunpitan positioned YouTube as a critical pillar within the continent’s evolving video distribution strategy.

He explained that the platform already offers African media businesses discovery visibility, recommendation intelligence, audience analytics, advertising revenue opportunities and global reach.

Therefore, he encouraged publishers and broadcasters to prioritise attention building first and loyalty conversion later rather than expecting subscription pipelines to deliver immediate scale.

Furthermore, he stressed that this layered attention first strategy reflects how audiences actually discover content in today’s digital environment.

As viewers interact with short form clips, shareable formats and recommendation driven programming, platforms that build familiarity early can gradually convert engagement into deeper relationships and diversified revenue streams over time.

Nevertheless, Ogunpitan did not dismiss proprietary OTT platforms entirely. Instead, he argued that their strategic role must evolve.

The media professional opined that rather than serving as primary distribution engines, he advised media organisations to reposition owned platforms as premium experience environments offering exclusive long form storytelling, archival access, live event participation, niche community engagement, early release privileges and specialised learning opportunities.

According to him. through this repositioning,  OTT platforms can strengthen loyalty while simultaneously attracting higher value partnerships.

Equally significant, Ogunpitan emphasised that future winners within Africa’s streaming landscape will not necessarily be the companies that spend the most on technology or content acquisition.

Instead, he insisted that success will favour organisations that understand audience behaviour more deeply, structure revenue across multiple layers and expand sustainably through disciplined execution strategies.

Meanwhile, he concluded that Africa’s streaming conversation must shift away from technology imitation toward market understanding.

Therefore, rather than describing the continent as an underperforming OTT environment, he maintained that stakeholders should recognise a different reality.

“Africa does not face a shortage of viewers. Instead, it faces a strategy alignment challenge that requires smarter monetisation design, stronger audience insight and more flexible distribution thinking across the continent’s rapidly expanding video economy.”