African stories are finding an audience in a global market that is becoming less dependent on English-language content, a shift Akunna Cook says presents a significant opportunity for the continent’s creative industry.
Cook, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Next Narrative Africa, made the point at Africa Breakfast Convos 2026 at the World Trade Center in New York on Friday, September 25, 2026, where she spoke during a panel on Financing Africa’s Next Growth Chapter.
For Cook, the opportunity starts with the gap between the appetite for African stories and the amount of content available to meet that demand. “African content is estimated at 28 per cent of global demand, but the supply is less than 16 per cent. So, there’s an enormous gap between what’s being demanded and what’s being supplied,” she said.
She said the changing language preferences of global audiences added another dimension to the opportunity. “And if you add to that 2025 was the first year that non-English language content surpassed English language content in terms of global demand, you see why there’s an enormous opportunity for the continent,” Cook said.
That shift matters for African creators because many of the continent’s stories are rooted in languages, cultures and experiences that have traditionally received limited international exposure. A story told in Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, Kiswahili or another African language is no longer restricted by geography when digital platforms make it possible for audiences elsewhere to find and consume it.
Yet the digital space still has significant gaps in its representation of African languages. UNESCO reported in 2025 that fewer than two per cent of Africa’s estimated 2,000 languages had a real online presence, including through localised software, websites, translation and other digital services. The figure points to the amount of room that exists for African languages and voices to become more visible online.
For Cook, the growing demand for non-English content presents an opening for the continent to tell more of its own stories while reaching audiences beyond its traditional markets. As global viewing habits continue to change, the opportunity is not only to produce more African content, but to bring more of the continent’s languages and perspectives into the wider market for stories.