In recent years, French-speaking Africa has been rediscovering movie theaters.
The 1990s saw the successive closure of various theaters in major cities across French-speaking Africa, depriving populations of popular cinema. However, in recent years, theater renovations and the creation of multiplexes have been on the rise.
Alongside international networks such as CanalOlympia, owned by France's Vivendi, and the arrival of Pathé Gaumont, other local players are breathing new life into movie theaters.
This is the case for Steve Karl Munga, a Belgian entrepreneur of Congolese origin who decided to create CINEKIN in 2017, officially opening three movie theaters in Kinshasa.
"The majority of the working population had never been to a movie theater. Most people wondered, 'Why pay for a movie ticket when I can watch movies on CANAL+? So we had to educate people, and to do that, it was obvious that we had to target movie lovers first, then attract the entire working population and create a trend." –
Steve Karl Munga.
Nearly five years after the creation of the Cinekin network, the entrepreneur is now taking stock of his activities in a few figures:
4
movie theaters built
400
films screened
$2.5
million in revenue
25
jobs created
30
partnerships formed
170,000
tickets sold
37
tons of popcorn
"Beyond economics and politics, this revival of movie theaters motivates me because it means we are on the right track. The arrival of major players on the continent can only be a good sign. It will stimulate local production, push players in the industry to improve, and push them to strive for excellence in order to face the competition."
Beyond the borders of Kinshasa, Dakar and Abidjan are soon to welcome movie theaters built by the Pathé Gaumont group. These two projects are part of the strong development of several operators on the continent, not to mention the renovation of legendary theaters such as the Ciné Guimbi in Burkina Faso, which is set to reopen soon.