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Study to prove African narratives are a globally undervalued asset
African content is a globally undervalued asset class. Next Narrative Africa Fund (NNAF) has partnered with Parrot Analytics to leverage world-class analytics to prove that African narratives are a globally undervalued asset class.
Next Narrative Africa Fund (NNAF) has partnered with Parrot Analytics to leverage world-class analytics to prove that African narratives are a globally undervalued asset class (Image source: © 123rf 123rf)
The partnership was announced by NNAF founder and CEO Akunna Cook and Parrot Analytics founder and CEO Wared Seger.
Cooks says this partnership with Parrot Analytics changes the conversation.
Bias rather than data
“For too long, the perceived risk of African content has been based on bias rather than data,” says Cook.
“Africa offers an abundance of vibrant cultures and narratives, and global interest in these stories is surging.
“We are excited to be on the first lap of a race toward mass global adoption, following a trajectory akin to the explosive success of Korean content over the last decade,” adds Cook.
First comprehensive entertainment Landscape Study on Africa
As part of the partnership, NNAF has commissioned Parrot Analytics to provide data for the first comprehensive entertainment Landscape Study on Africa to quantify the massive supply-demand gap in the African entertainment market.
“By combining this data with our $40m commercial fund and $10m venture studio focused on African and Diasporan content activates we are building infrastructure that delivers high-yield returns by enabling smarter decisions that lead to entertainment content success,” explains Cook.
While a 2025 study from the University of Georgia's Selig Center for Economic Growth confirms Black consumers control over $2.1tr in buying power, this report will be the first to scientifically map how that influence converts into viewership for African content.
By correlating this economic power with global viewership trends, NNAF will validate the thesis that African content is not just culturally significant, but a commercially viable sector ready for institutional scale.
A failure of measurement
Wared Seger, CEO, Parrot Analytics says that for too long, the perceived risk of African content has actually been a failure of measurement, not a lack of audience.
“By partnering with NNAF, we are closing that gap.”
Seger explains that they are bringing the same global demand measurement used by Hollywood’s biggest studios to the African continent.
“Scientifically proving that these stories don't just resonate locally - they have the power to travel globally.
“We are providing the critical intelligence layer that allows NNAF to deploy capital with confidence and industrialise the African creative economy. In doing so, we aren't just providing analytics; we are validating an entire asset class.”
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Analysis of the volume of African/Diasporan content
The extensive NNAF/Parrot Analytics co-branded Landscape Study highlighting the investment opportunities in African movies and series for the global investment and creative communities will be made public in March.
Among the data to be revealed is the global arbitrage opportunity associated with African film and TV investment, underpinned by a comparative analysis of the volume of African/Diasporan content produced vs. global demand for that content, answering questions relating to where the content is being watched, and which platforms are leading the way in distribution.
Key areas of interest for NNAF, which will be covered in the report, include measurement of the travelability of content; the "culture flywheel"; film & TV comparative performance benchmarks; and genre and format opportunities.
Final diligence layer
In leveraging Parrot Analytics’ global audience analytics, NNAF joins a rapidly growing roster of industry leaders, including streamers and studios such as Disney, Amazon Prime Video, Warner Bros. Discovery and Sony Pictures; media and technology companies including Samsung, Comcast, Amazon, and Google.
Networks such as Sky, Asharq Network, MBC Group and OSN Group and academic institutes including Harvard, UCLA, University of Chicago, and Duke University, and government agencies such as Canadian Media Fund, British Film Institute and Spain Trade and Investment also utilise the same analytics.
Parrot Analytics’ systems are also deployed by leading sports leagues such as the NBA and Wall Street analysis firms like Bernstein.
This is the final diligence layer before the $40m commercial content fund paired with a $10m non-profit venture studio focused on African and Diasporan content activates its capital, bringing data-driven intelligence to its Greenlight Committee as it prepares to greenlight its inaugural slate of six to 10 projects - selected from over 2,000 global submissions - in March.
By integrating data-driven intelligence into its development and funding decisions, NNAF is moving beyond the traditional philanthropy-based models of the past.
Instead, the Fund will utilise Parrot Analytics’ proprietary demand data to generate Greenlight Confidence Scores for its Venture Studio, ensuring that capital is deployed toward stories with quantifiable global travelability.
This rigorous approach aims to set a new standard for an ROI-driven African content investment, de-risking the sector for institutional capital.
The partnership positions NNAF as Africa’s first “Parrot-powered” investor, utilising the industry’s leading predictive data to scientifically validate the thesis that African content is a globally undervalued asset class.
Investors and media interested in receiving the African Entertainment Landscape Study upon its release in March can register their interest at here.