Vamehi Bamba is CEO of MIABOX, a company based in Ivory Coast.
What is your background?
I worked for several years in an advertising agency in Ivory Coast. During that time, I realized that there was a real need among clients for video content from Africa for companies and communication agencies in Europe and North America. We noticed how scarce content from Africa was on the web. So I decided to launch a small service aggregating photo and video content from Africa.
Following that, with a business partner, we decided to launch a service selling videos and films to television stations and other organizations. We started with content from Côte d'Ivoire, then moved on to Burkina Faso, and finally launched MIA BOX.
Can you describe your activities?
MIABOX is a TV and VOD platform that includes replay and free content viewing features.
MIA BOX is positioned in the B2B segment. We now have several hundred hours of African content and television channels in our catalog. We provide this content to operators and television channels, among others. Eighty percent of the content is African. We distribute it through a network of several partners on the continent. Our offering includes more than 50 TV channels and, without Replay, our catalog has more than 800 hours of content.
Our service is available by subscription via our website, mobile device applications, and mobile phone operator platforms.
What are your ambitions in terms of development?
During these first three years of activity, we have worked to build our offering and diversify our catalog. We have also signed an agreement with two operators. Our goal is to increase the number of these agreements to support our development, particularly in Europe, where we can reach the African diaspora. We are launching our apps in European countries in September.
What are the most popular programs?
Nollywood and, more broadly, telenovelas are the programs that work best. They are consumed more because of women's strong appetite for this type of content.
MIABOX was created in 2016. Was the market ready for the launch of your VOD offering?
Honestly, no. Not because consumers weren't ready, but because the infrastructure wasn't developed enough for it. This was true both for telecom operators, who were not ready to support the rollout of such an offering, and for infrastructure, which did not allow for optimal internet access. Today, I think there are many initiatives and investments being made to support the development of the internet on the continent in order to offer consumers quality content at a reasonable price. The rise of digital technology will therefore support the development of VOD on the continent.
Do you have plans to produce your own content?
This is a question we are often asked, but for the moment we have no plans to produce our own content. We are focusing more on diversifying our catalog, particularly through the acquisition of fiction.