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Piracy Is Killing African Creativity — Canal+ Rwanda MD Warns
Managing Director of Canal+ Rwanda and President of the French Business Club, Madam Sophie Tchatchoua, has issued a powerful call to action against the rising tide of digital piracy, warning that it threatens the very survival of Africa’s creative industry.
Speaking passionately at the global Mobile World Congress (MWC 25) in Kigali, Madam Tchatchoua emphasised that Africa’s storytelling revolution—which aims to project authentic African narratives to the world—will falter if the continent fails to safeguard its creative assets.
“If we don’t protect our content, the industry will be dead,” she warned. “Piracy is a virus, and we must kill it through strong legal frameworks and technological tools.”
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Canal+, a media giant present in over 50 countries, boasts 20 million subscribers and employs 50,000 people across Africa. Tchatchoua explained that beyond its reach, the company’s mission is to elevate African stories, promote local content creation, and empower filmmakers with world-class production skills.
“We are writing stories for Africa, in Africa, by Africans—and for the world,” she said. “Our goal is to make African storytelling travel beyond our borders.”
She highlighted the company’s investments in local productions, citing Kenya’s “Section Six” series as an example of Canal+’s commitment to nurturing homegrown creativity. With 10,000 hours of African content broadcast yearly across 72 channels, Canal+ continues to provide a major platform for African talent.
However, she cautioned that the same digital tools enabling this creative growth also pose risks. The surge in online streaming and content sharing has opened new avenues for intellectual property theft.
Tchatchoua revealed that Canal+ Rwanda, working alongside the Ministry of ICT and national regulators, has already implemented a legal and technological framework to curb piracy. But she stressed that this must become a continental effort.
“This is a daily fight,” she said. “We need every African country to establish strong protection mechanisms. Without that, innovation and investment in our film and media sectors will vanish.”
Looking ahead, she said the merger of Canal+ and MultiChoice marks a new era in Africa’s media landscape—one where collaboration, digital innovation, and cultural pride will define the continent’s voice on the world stage.
“We are Afro-optimists,” Tchatchoua concluded. “We believe in Africa’s creative power. By embracing technology responsibly and fighting piracy, we can give Africa a stronger voice on the global map.”
Canal+’s message from Kigali was clear: Africa’s stories deserve protection, ownership, and global respect—and that begins with winning the war against piracy.
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