Netflix has announced its intention to focus on the South African market, and charge for local subscriptions in rand.

The head of Netflix’s corporate communications for EMEA, Yann Lafargue, said they feel the time is right to be more proactive in South Africa.

Since its global launch in January 2016, Netflix has tripled the number of titles in its South African catalogue.

“The service is now good enough to promote [in South Africa],” said Lafargue.

He said that 99% of the data traffic Netflix subscribers in South Africa consume is serviced from South Africa, as Netflix has put down servers locally.

Another reason Netflix believes it is the right time to focus on South Africa is the launch of Kwesé Play.

Kwesé Play is the official partner of Netflix and Roku in the country, and was one of the few ways you could get a Netflix subscription in rand.

This is set to change soon – in the coming weeks or months, said Lafargue.

Price changes

Will South Africans pay more or less when the rand pricing is introduced? Lafargue said they usually take the foreign exchange hit.

While they do have to adjust prices in Latin America regularly due to inflation, he expects it will be less of a problem in South Africa.

Netflix didn’t announce the rand prices, but they are expected to be revealed soon.

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