Our 2024 retrospective, the first articles of which were published at the end of the year, focuses on the major topics that marked the year just ended and that will certainly be at the center of media conversations in French-speaking Africa in 2025.
The first part of this retrospective focused on the strong comeback of professional events and the race among countries for audiovisual leadership in West Africa, two themes that demonstrate the growing interest of governments and public authorities in the creative audiovisual and film industry. Meanwhile, the takeover of Multichoice by CANAL+, which has been the subject of a fascinating saga throughout the year, is expected to be finalized in April 2025.
The year 2024 was also marked by the broadcast of major sporting events on African TV channels. This provided an opportunity to gauge the tremendous capacity of sport to generate audiences and boost advertising revenue.
The implementation of a single, certified measurement system was at the heart of debates in Côte d'Ivoire in 2024. Private initiatives, regulatory interventions by the HACA, technological innovations… TV audience measurement took center stage throughout 2024, with a conclusion expected in 2025.
Finally, not a week went by in 2024 without the news media being caught up in turmoil, particularly in the Sahel countries. Bans, suspensions, financial pressure…the news media are the first to be punished when the facts they report do not correspond to the narrative desired by the local authorities.
And now… let's set our sights on 2025!
The year 2025 will see the conclusion of two ongoing stories related to the acquisition of Multichoice by CANAL+ and the launch of an audience measurement system in Côte d'Ivoire.
Two major soccer events will open and close the year: the African Nations Championship (CHAN 2025) from February 1 to 28, and the next Africa Cup of Nations, which will take place in Morocco from December 21, 2025, to January 18, 2026.
In Côte d'Ivoire, the next presidential elections are scheduled for October 2025, while in Cameroon, the presidential elections scheduled for 2025 have been postponed without a definitive date being set.
As we can see, there will still be plenty of news. Let's bet that Artificial Intelligence, which is attracting increasing interest from media, communication, and digital professionals, will be one of the central themes of 2025.