Global movie streaming outfit Netflix has named Ebi Atawodi to lead its payments in Europe, Middle East and Africa region. This is coming on the heels of her spearheading Uber’s arrival and growth in West Africa, six years at Uber which she described as “a ride of a lifetime.” Atawodi was general manager at Uber with responsibilities spanning the cab-hailing platform’s expansion in Lagos and other West African cities. One milestone was in March 2016 when Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital, became Uber’s 400th city.
After being on the ground and leading those operations, Atawodi became Uber’s Head of Product (payments) in February 2017. While she now switches from the ride-sharing and logistics industry to entertainment, her focus remains on payments.
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“Anyone who knows me knows I’m obsessed with Netflix – the culture, the product, the impact it has had on the art of storytelling. Excited to be joining Netflix as Director of Payments, [Europe, the Middle East and Africa] and can’t wait to do the ‘best work of my life’,” Atawodi wrote on her LinkdIn page.
With an estimated 66.7 million Netflix subscribers from the EMEA region, prospects of growth are enormous. Netflix’s EMEA subscribers are expected to surpass those in North America in about two years, according to The Motley Fool. Netflix launched in Africa in 2016. Recently, the streaming giant has been exploring mobile-only subscription plans to take advantage of the growth in smartphone and internet penetration. They started testing “Mobile” and “Mobile+” plans in Egypt in 2018 and South Africa in 2019. The plans will be priced at $2.30 and $3.50 per month, respectively.
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Netflix added 8.5 million new subscribers in the last quarter of 2020, riding the pandemic’s work-from-home and lockdown wave. The company ended 2020 with over 200 million paying subscribers. No other streaming platform in the world has as many users.
Atawodi will oversee these payment dynamics to keep Netflix ahead of shrewd competitors in Africa’s streaming video on-demand market, especially Showmax. The Multichoice-owned service has been working to dominate the market by offering on-demand video streaming and live TV including football matches, music and news.
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Before joining Uber in 2014, Atawodi worked at Etisalat, the Nigerian telecommunications company that transitioned into 9Mobile, as their head of Corporate Communications and sponsorships. In that role, she says she was involved in Etisalat’s partnerships with the Nigeria Communications Commission to enable users to port their numbers between telecom providers.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry