From Sunday, 1 September, advertisers in these countries will be able to reach modern female audiences via a separate BBC Lifestyle commercial feed that will broadcast across sub-Saharan Africa, excluding the South African Development Community (SADC).

The feed strives to enable advertisers to target client needs through a combination of traditional advertising spots and tailored creative solutions. Sales will be managed by DStv media sales on behalf of BBC Studios.

Advertisers targeting South African and SADC audiences will continue to be able to reach those upmarket audiences on the current BBC Lifestyle feed for those regions.

BBC Lifestyle's mix of series include:
  • Food
  • Home
  • Design
  • Dating
  • Romance
The channel is available across sub-Saharan Africa via the DStv Premium, Compact Plus and Compact tiers.

Competitive cookery and entertainment series on BBC Lifestyle, such as Come Dine With Me and MasterChef, aspirational design shows George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces and Grand Designs and dating show Dinner Dates have proved to have huge affinity with Kenyan and Nigerian audiences.

In the coming months, BBC Lifestyle will air a number of viewer favourites, such as Come Dine With Me South Africa for a fifth series and season nine of Dinner Dates. These will air alongside new commission First Dates South Africa and season two of Bake Off: The Professionals.

"This is a significant step to offer brands the opportunity to align with BBC Lifestyle's premium global and local content and [its] extensive reach across sub-Saharan Africa," says Sarah-Jane Harling, advertising account director for Africa, BBC Studios.

"With its unique mix of programming, the channel now offers dedicated ad breaks for South Africa and Africa, and remains a very attractive environment for advertisers operating on the continent. It enables BBC Lifestyle to assist brands wanting to specifically reach aspirational households in South Africa, as well as consumers in sub-Saharan Africa, separately," Harling concludes.

For more information, visit www.bbcsouthafrica.com. You can also follow BBC on Facebook or on Twitter.