I’ve spent the last few years building investment infrastructure that connects diaspora capital with opportunities across Africa. At HoaQ, we’ve expanded our thesis beyond tech startups into Africa’s Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI), a space I believe could be as transformative for the continent as manufacturing was for China.

But when it comes to film, the most capital-intensive corner of CCI, I had questions. How do you actually underwrite a movie deal? Where does the money come from? What does a return profile look like? How do you protect against downside?

So I sat down with Eric Okyerefo, founder of Film Makers Mart (FMM), one of the most active production infrastructure companies operating across Africa. Eric was in Berlin for the Berlin Film Festival. I was freezing in London, having just returned from Nairobi. We got on a call.

I first heard of FMM last year from my friend Lavanya. I was instantly excited about someone building infrastructure for the CCI space. 

What followed was one of the most practical conversations I’ve had about how money actually moves through Africa’s film industry, and where the opportunity lies for investors who want to participate.

Anything shared reflects Eric’s realities of doing business in Africa. The rules tend to change across many geographies. 

The single most important principle Eric shared is that any investor’s approach to African film should be governed by this: invest only in projects that already have a distribution deal in place.

“I’ve never done a deal with any producer where they have a wonderful idea and raise money and just go shoot without having distribution in place. The only deals I have participated in have a distribution deal in place. Always.”

— Eric Okyerefo

A distribution deal means a buyer, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Multichoice, or YouTube channels with proven viewership, has already committed to licensing or purchasing the content. The producer knows how much money is coming and when. The investor’s job is to bridge the gap between production costs and the guaranteed payment.

This is fundamentally different from speculative investing. You’re not betting on whether a film will find an audience. You’re financing the production of content that already has a confirmed buyer. The shifts the risk profile from a market one to an execution one. 

The mechanics are straightforward once you understand the flow.

Pre-sale agreement: A streamer or distributor commits to paying a set amount for the finished film. For example, Netflix might agree to license a movie for $400K upon delivery within 8 months.

Financing gap: The producer needs capital to actually make the film. Production might cost $250K. The Netflix deal pays $400K, but only on delivery. This means someone needs to put up the $250K now.

Investor entry: Investors provide the production capital. In return, they receive their principal back, plus interest, typically at a flat rate within 8–12 months. In some cases, investors can also negotiate for a piece of the IP, which entitles them to revenue from future licensing (airlines, other streamers, different territories).

Payout: When the distributor pays, investors get repaid first. If you’ve negotiated IP ownership, additional revenue flows continue beyond the initial deal.

Eric noted he typically makes small investments here and there, but his focus is on the production and often connects producers with larger investors for $50K–$100K tickets. 

I asked Eric directly about defaults. His answer was encouraging but nuanced.

“I haven’t seen a complete default. I’ve seen a few weeks’ delay in receiving funds, but there has been no complete default yet. The ones I’ve participated in always had distribution in place.”

— Eric Okyerefo

The key risk mitigant is the distribution agreement itself. When Netflix or Multichoice has contractually committed to paying for a film, the producer’s incentive to deliver is enormous. The risk is primarily around delays, not total loss.

That said, there are real operational risks. Production timelines slip. Currency fluctuations matter when you’re converting between USD and Naira. And the payment infrastructure between international investors and Nigerian producers is, frankly, primitive. Eric described literally withdrawing cash from his Standard Chartered account and depositing it at Zenith Bank to pay producers.

One of the most revealing parts of our conversation was about the distribution layer. Who are the companies and individuals who control which African films reach global audiences?

Eric drew a parallel to early Hollywood, where studios controlled both production and distribution until the government broke them up. In Nigeria today, a small number of distributors control the relationships with Netflix, Amazon, and other global streamers. These distributors often finance their own projects and push them to the platforms, while genuinely talented independent creators struggle to get their stories in front of global audiences.

This creates both a problem and an opportunity. The problem is that capital flowing through existing distribution channels doesn’t always reach the best creators. The opportunity is for new infrastructure, whether that’s a fund with direct streamer relationships, a production management platform like FMM, or a combination of both, to route capital more efficiently to high-quality projects.

The film investment opportunity in Africa isn’t limited to big-budget Netflix productions. Eric highlighted three distinct market segments.

There’s a thriving ecosystem of producers creating films for YouTube channels with established viewership. These are low-budget productions ($5K–20K) with fast payback periods between 4–6 months. Eric described helping pool money to fund these projects.

“We supported a creator twice, and she paid the money back before she even put the content online, because she’d get a brand to sponsor it and charge them the production cost up front.”

— Eric Okyerefo

Multichoice, Africa’s largest media company, commissions more content than anyone else on the continent. But they don’t always pay producers upfront. Payment terms can stretch to 30, 60, or 90 days, while producers need money immediately to begin or continue production.

This creates a straightforward gap financing opportunity: provide short-term capital to producers with confirmed Multichoice contracts, and get repaid when Multichoice pays. Eric is working to structure deals in which Multichoice pays the investor directly, eliminating the collection risk for the producer.

These are the larger deals where a global streamer has committed to licensing a film. Higher ticket sizes, longer timelines (6–12 months), but with the security of a contractual commitment from a creditworthy counterparty like Netflix, Amazon, or Sony.

South Africa stands apart from the rest of the continent in terms of film investment. It has the most mature regulatory framework, including tax rebates for film production, something virtually no other African market offers. The production quality is visibly higher, and South African films have a strong track record of landing on Netflix and Prime.

Eric’s company, FMM, has been scaling its South African operations since 2023, working with brands and production houses. For an investor considering African film, South Africa offers the lowest risk and the most established infrastructure.

Coming out of this conversation, I’m thinking about how to structure a small, disciplined proof-of-concept investment vehicle that tests the model before scaling.

The idea isn’t to build a billion-dollar vehicle overnight. It’s to prove the concept: that diaspora and global investors can deploy capital into African film projects with clear distribution paths and predictable returns. If the pilot works, we take the data on a roadshow and raise a large pool of capital.

This fits naturally with the infrastructure we’ve already built at Borderless. A project-based syndication where investors pool capital, we deploy it, and when returns come, we distribute them globally through our platform.

If you’re considering investing in African film, here’s what I took away from this conversation:

1. Distribution first, always. Never invest in a film without a confirmed buyer. A pre-sale agreement from Netflix, Amazon, Multichoice, or a proven YouTube channel is your primary risk mitigant.

2. This is debt-like, not equity-like. The best African film investments look more like short-term lending than venture capital. You’re providing production capital against a guaranteed receivable. Expect 20% returns in 8–12 months, not 10x in 7 years.

3. Negotiate for IP when you can. If you’re providing a significant portion of the capital, negotiate for a share of the intellectual property. This gives you ongoing upside from secondary distribution deals across territories and platforms.

4. Start small, learn fast. $5K–15K per deal is a sensible starting range. YouTube films offer the fastest feedback loop. Scale up as you build relationships and pattern recognition.

5. South Africa is the safest entry point. Tax rebates, higher production quality, and established streaming relationships. If you want to dip your toes in, start here.

6. The infrastructure is broken, and that’s the opportunity. Payment rails, distribution access, and structured financing are all primitive. Whoever builds the plumbing for this industry will capture enormous value.

7. Outsiders will drive the change. As Eric put it, the people who will disrupt this industry are not from the industry. The existing players benefit from the status quo. New entrants with capital and systems thinking can reshape how African stories reach the world.

I’m deeply grateful to Eric for sharing his experience so openly. If you’re interested in participating in African film investment, either through the proof-of-concept fund or through individual deal flow, reach out to me directly. I recently introduced an investor to a producer via my private WhatsApp group.

Africa’s creative industries are producing some of the most compelling content in the world. The talent is there. The demand is there. What’s been missing is the financial infrastructure to connect the two. That’s what we’re building.

It doesn’t stop there. We are hosting Eric at our upcoming AMA this Thursday alongside investors and other founders. You can sign up below:

As always, thank you for reading…