(Agence Ecofin) – In recent years, several African countries have launched initiatives to attract international film brands. The arrival of foreign film studios in particular makes it possible to promote tourist destinations, and above all to generate income.
A few weeks after its release, the live action manga One Piece by Eiichirō Oda became the most watched program on Netflix in the world. The success of the series made it possible to promote the South African settings used for the filming of the majority of episodes. This type of exhibition is increasingly sought after by many African countries.
Filming a scene from One Piece in South Africa
Thus, after launching the “Shoot in Ghana” campaign to attract film studios, the Ghanaian authorities announced tax reductions for foreign brands coming to shoot a film in the country. In 2023, Kenya signed an agreement with Invention Studios to promote the country’s film sets to Hollywood production houses. Invention will also create scenes to promote tourist sites.
Ghana hosted the principal photography of the film Beast of No Nations (2015), co-produced by Idris Elba
While these agreements provide interesting exposure to African countries, their aim is above all to generate revenue. The filming of One Piece’s live action generated at least USD 48.7 million in spending in South Africa. Another example of the windfall that welcoming film crews can represent is Morocco, which saw the success of the series Game of Thrones (adaptation of the eponymous novels by David Benioff and DB Weiss) provide it with major media exposure. .
A scene from Game of Thrones filmed in Morocco
Many scenes with the character of Daenerys Targaryen were filmed in the town of Ouarzazate and Kasbah Aït-ben-Haddou, 100 km southwest of Marrakech. But the Cherifian kingdom above all generated very significant income thanks to the filming of films on its territory. In January 2023, Khalid Saidi, the Acting Director General of the Moroccan Cinematographic Center declared that foreign filming generated approximately 96 million USD in the country in 2022. A figure which can more than double according to him, Morocco hosting numerous filming like the sequel to the Lord of War film in 2024.
South Africa also wants to multiply these revenues. The Rainbow Nation plans to create an entire city dedicated to foreign production studios. This cinema city would allow them, in addition to access to suitable settings for filming, to have spaces suitable for their teams’ stay. Sierra Leone is considering a similar project. In 2021, President Julius Maada Bio received American producers from The Root Production Service studios looking for locations to shoot films.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou in a scene from Blood Diamond filmed in Sierra Leone. Photo: Jaap Buitendijk
Since then, the country, which has already served as the setting for the famous Blood Diamond by Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou, has been working to attract foreign studios.
Servan Ahougnon
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