Accessing Africa’s 700m Christian market - Dominion TV leads the way
A Christian Lifestyle Network, Dominion Television, is leading the campaign for media and production outlets, advertising companies and CMOs to explore Africa’s growing 700 million Christian market which is untapped, using robust data and digital strategy.
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The management of Dominion TV is basing their drive on research conducted by Pew Research Centre, which discovered that Africa is home to the world’s largest Christian community – approximately 700 million people.
“This number will cross to one billion in 2050, marking a 112 per cent surge from 517 million in 2010 and by 2060, countries on the continent will account for six of the top 10 countries globally with the highest number of Christians,” according to the findings.
Diversified content
After studying the demographics, the Dominion TV Network has tailored their diversified content features, which includes films, sports, fashion, food, entertainment, documentaries and special features on finance, health and programming to meet the diverse needs of the African Christian community.
At an event, held at the Ecobank Head Office in Accra last Friday, the channel also announced the launch of its bloc children’s programme called “Proudly Me TV” aimed at cultivating Godly development and self-worth in children of African descent.
Huge market
During the event, the President of Dominion TV, Lady Rosa Whitaker, said the African Christian community was a huge market that had been hidden in plain sight and urged other television networks, advertisers and other content creators to take advantage.
“Christians are more than a religious bloc. In Africa, they represent a diverse base of largely young men, women and children who collectively form the continent's largest affinity group. Yet, how much is known about their market potential?
Data-driven insights have been sparse. This is why we undertook a qualitative and anecdotal study to learn about this expanding demographic. There is a vast number of persuasions within Christianity and at the Dominion TV we try to serve all of them,” Lady Rosa Whitaker said.
She continued, “I believe from what we understand about this market, we can be more because there are so many things that the data revealed but they are missing.
I am just being more generous with our ideas and our data because we feel like we cannot take this journey alone so we want to create a movement.”
Leveraging digital content
In a keynote address, the CEO and founder of Beyond Limits Africa, Dr Juliet Ehimuan, mentioned that the Christian audience represented a growing population in Africa and it was a strong force with its own attributes as well as a growing appetite for faith-based content.
She said it was important to connect with the Christian community based on their preferences because they mostly looked at relatability.
“These 700 million Christian users have broad needs and there are diversity of products that they consume so we should think about what they need and how our brands can serve them.
“In building blocks of robust digital strategy, there are four Be’s – Be Preset, Be Relevant, Be Engaging and Be Accountable.
These will help us think holistically about leveraging digital content in accessing Africa’s 700 million Christian market,” she said.
Peace and stability
The Founder of the Action Chapel International, Archbishop Duncan Williams, called for peace and stability in war-thorn countries in Africa, especially for the sake of children, as well as the great dreams and possibilities on the continent.
“As I see all that was shown on the screen and also hearing from our speakers and looking at the possibilities this continent holds, if we have ever prayed for peace and stability, visionary and selfless leaders on this continent, it is now than ever before,” he said.
“For the sake of our kids and our grandchildren, this continent must stay intact. It cannot fall away.
Some of the uprising we see and hear in the West African Sub region and other parts of Africa should stop because that is a killer of great dreams and great people.
“It is a killer of all these possibilities and we cannot afford it, we can’t allow it and it has to stop,” Archbishop Duncan Williams stressed.
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