What makes Jason Njoku a Global Shaker?
Serial entrepreneur, investor and film magnate Jason Njoku is the founder and CEO of iROKOtv, the world’s most extensive online collection of “Nollywood” content—movies from Nigeria. The company also has a music streaming service called iROKING, which has been called the “Spotify of Africa.”
“Nollywood is the world’s second largest film industry in the world in terms of output; over 2,000 films a year are produced,” he told TechZulu. “Before iROKOtv, Nollywood was almost completely closed to the Diaspora—lovers of Nollywood were always dependent on getting their hands on DVDs from family coming back from Nigeria, or from local market stalls—DVDs which may or may not have been pirated.
“I saw how popular Nollywood was in the Diaspora, but also realized that it had no formalised or strategic distribution channels and that there was an opportunity to create a business model to spread this cult film industry to a much wider audience.”
iROKOtv was Jason’s 11th attempt at launching a successful business. Founded in 2011, iROKOtv has amassed a collection of over 5,000 Nollywood films. The company also supplies various airlines with Nollywood content, such as British Airways, South African Airways, Emirates, Kenya Airways and United Airlines.
Jason is also the co-founder of ROK Studios, a leading African film and television studio. In 2019, the company was acquired by French media conglomerate Canal+, the largest media acquisition in the history of West Africa.
The media mogul also serves as the executive chairman of Blackbet and Betty Bingo.
Born and raised in the UK, Jason earned a bachelor’s in chemistry at the University of Manchester.
Tags: Africa, entertainment, film, Investment and Funding, media, Nigeria, TV, UKLast updated: May 25, 2020
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