Founder and CEO Justin Beekye says, "The talent the team and I have witnessed across Africa is undeniable. The best part of our day-to-day job is the cinematic experience when reviewing extremely entertaining content that has been submitted."

"We believe we have created a viable solution that will help to propel such talented content creators into house-hold names and to enhance their chances of financially benefitting from their productions."

The streaming service, which is set to launch in September, will feature independent short-films, documentaries, children programming, music and more from award-winning and up-coming YouTube content creators in Africa.

According to the platform, YouTube over the past few years has seen a wave of content creators streaming in from Africa; however, not all has had the opportunity to experience success through their channels in terms of views and followings.

The platform adds that another issue faced is the setup for advertising revenue on those videos that has become popular. It reports that over 90% of African creators will fall under that umbrella leaving a pool of undiscovered talent and unfulfilled dreams untapped.

WAN streaming aims to offer a permanent infrastructure to house such talents. Content creators also receive an upfront licensing payment, unlike the YouTube model of payment per views over a period.

The platform is also targeted to viewers across the world directly seeking for African entertainment, thus bringing the content creators to the forefront of their search. 

Upcoming content creator Aya Aya (or Mc MBakara) concludes, "I just want my content to be seen around the world. I have a good feeling about this partnership and I also want to see WAN platform grow very big. I'm glad I am one of the first set of content creators to be on this platform."

MC MBakara is also set to produce one of the first WAN series original to be launched on the streaming service in 2020.

Some of the content to feature on the platform includes:
  • Revenir
  • The Land Between
  • Nous Sommes des Messagers
Award-winning music video director Akin Alabi from Nigeria has created a string of edutainment content that will be available for streaming on WAN.

WAN launched on Sunday, 6 September with a subscription rate of $5.99 USD per month. Content creators can get in touch with WAN Streaming by sending and email to [email protected]

For more information, visit www.watchafricamovies.com. You can also follow WAN on Instagram.