As the streaming services enter the region, they’re up against an older giant — YouTube — which cultivated North Africa when others ignored it. Tailor-made for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, it has amassed exclusive rights to titles from prominent musicians and signed deals with mobile operators. It was only in 2018 that Spotify and Deezer launched operations in North Africa, within months of each other. That makes it easier to stream videos on the phone in North Africa than in sub-Saharan Africa. In North Africa, they’re up against a giant owned by tech titan Google — and one that catered to the region, when no one else would.

Source: The North Africa Journal September 17, 2020 16:16 UTC