Africa’s biggest company is launching a Netflix competitor in the US

Africa’s largest media company – Nasper’s, has plans to expand its new video streaming service to North America, Europe and Asia.

The service, known as “Showmax,” is a Netflix competitor that will offer not only content from the likes of CBS, the BBC, and Time Warner, but also content produced on the African continent.

The $65 billion South African company hopes to attract 15 million subscribers outside of Africa, partially by leveraging a deal with Samsung to include Nasper’s service in its smart TVs.

In comparison, Netflix currently has over 60 million subscribers worldwide, and Hulu hit 9 million paid subscribers earlier this year. Amazon bundles its streaming video service with other items in Amazon Prime, which might have 60-80 million subscribers globally.

Nasper’s bet seems to be that worldwide subscribers will pay a premium for African content overlooked by other streaming services. That is the differentiator. The African diaspora numbers around 30 million worldwide and could be a source of customers who feel their needs aren’t being met by companies like Netflix and Hulu.