iROKOtv Shuts Down: Jason Njoku Reflects on a $100M Streaming Gamble in Nigeria

 

iROKOtv Shuts Down as Founder Jason Njoku Calls $100M Streaming Bet a Costly Misstep

After over a decade of striving to dominate the African digital entertainment market, Jason Njoku, founder of iROKOtv, has officially pulled the plug on the streaming service. Once hailed as Africa’s answer to Netflix for Nollywood content, iROKOtv's closure marks the end of a turbulent journey filled with hope, heavy investments, and hard-earned lessons.

Njoku announced the shutdown on his personal blog, Njoku.org, offering a brutally honest post-mortem on what he now considers a misjudged business model. The entrepreneur revealed that the company’s pursuit to build a streaming empire in Nigeria and across Africa consumed more than $100 million in venture capital and operating costs over 12 years—an investment he now calls a mistake in hindsight.

Back in 2011, when iROKOtv first received funding from Tiger Global, expectations were high. The American investment firm had a reputation for identifying promising online entertainment platforms globally, having invested in Netflix, IVI (Russia), YY (China), and Netmovies (Brazil). Njoku’s mandate was to replicate that success by riding the wave of Nollywood’s popularity in Nigeria and the diaspora. The early years were sustained largely by the overseas market, where better infrastructure and payment systems allowed for actual monetization.

Despite these early wins, the company only made its serious push into the Nigerian market in 2015. A robust content library had been built, the team was in place, and optimism was strong. But Nigeria, with its expensive data, limited broadband access, and complex payment systems, remained a tough nut to crack.

The problem, Njoku explained, wasn’t simply competition. While global streaming giants like Netflix, Amazon, Showmax, and Iflix poured over $1 billion into Africa’s streaming ecosystem between 2015 and 2023, none emerged as clear winners in the Nigerian market. iROKOtv, despite unmatched efforts—ranging from manned kiosks and contact center teams to peer-to-peer sharing innovations—failed to achieve profitability at scale.

Over time, boardroom discussions turned critical. Investors grew increasingly skeptical. Njoku, facing mounting pressure, once asked his board if they could name any company successfully outperforming iROKOtv in Nigeria. The silence that followed confirmed a grim reality: the market itself was the barrier, not just execution.

In 2019, the company sought to raise another $10–$20 million through Stanbic IBTC, hoping to further expand its presence across Africa. Instead of enthusiasm, potential investors zeroed in on ROK Studios, iROKO’s TV and content production arm. With fewer than 30 employees, long-term content contracts with DStv, Sky, and other platforms, and EBITA margins reaching 40%, ROK was clearly the crown jewel.

That realization led to a $25 million partial exit deal with Vivendi’s Canal+, which closed in July 2019. A $5 million special dividend followed, and hopes were high. But any momentum was short-lived. COVID-19 disrupted the African market severely, while streaming saw a temporary spike in the West. In Nigeria, economic instability—currency devaluation, FX volatility, and policy unpredictability—crippled local revenue generation.

Even with continued optimism and efforts to crowdfund or list the company on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market, the business never recovered. By 2023, iROKOtv had quietly exited Nigeria, having stopped processing Naira payments for almost two years. Njoku acknowledged the harsh truth: a $5/month streaming service was simply unaffordable for the majority of Nigerians, where the average GDP per capita hovered around $2,000.

ROK, the content division, proved to be the more sustainable business model. With steady revenue from international licensing deals and a clear structure, it highlighted the core issue: streaming wasn’t the right model for Nollywood within Nigeria. Channels and traditional content distribution worked; subscription-based digital platforms did not.

Njoku admitted that iROKOtv could have reached these conclusions with a fraction of the $100 million spent. “We could have shut down iROKOtv and her $5 million/year losses in 2018 and had a fantastically profitable business,” he wrote. But driven by belief, he continued investing, even walking away from personal liquidity to pursue what he saw as a transformative vision for African entertainment.

His reflection extended beyond his own company. He cited other ambitious startups like Kobo360, urging founders to avoid the trap of over-raising capital in markets where structural challenges outpace any amount of funding.

The collapse of iROKOtv isn’t just the story of one company—it’s a case study on the limitations of applying Western startup models to African markets without deep, on-the-ground economic alignment. Njoku’s experience underscores that no amount of capital can override fundamental market realities.

Even Multichoice, Africa’s pay-TV titan, is currently being dragged down by the Nigerian market. As Njoku put it, “It’s okay that we tried and failed. It’s okay that we accept the limitations in the domestic market we find ourselves in.” The journey of iROKOtv may be over, but the lessons it leaves behind will resonate for years to come.