According to La Lettre A, Mediawan, founded by Xavier Niel, Matthieu Pigasse, and Pierre-Antoine Capton, is about to finalize the acquisition of a major production company in Ivory Coast and set up a division dedicated to Mediawan's development in Africa, which will be headed by François Thiellet, former director of MCM Africa and founder of Thema TV, Novelas TV, and Nollywood TV, which were sold to Canal International a few years ago.
The Ivorian production landscape is emerging. There are many talented production companies, but they are small in size. The only major audiovisual company based in Côte d'Ivoire, which is cited by La Lettre A as a potential target, is Côte Ouest.
However, according to our information, while contacts do exist between Mediawan and Côte Ouest, it is still too early to announce an imminent takeover of the company.
Whatever Mediawan's decision, the arrival of one of Europe's largest audiovisual content studios in Côte d'Ivoire is undoubtedly excellent news that will breathe new life into a market that is in high demand but still underfunded.
For the record, CANAL+ and MEDIAWAN announced in October 2019 the creation of a joint venture dedicated to the production of original French-language content for an African audience.
Read also: CANAL+ and Mediawan join forces to produce original content for Africa