Showmax Becomes First Streamer to Offer Kiswahili Interface in Tanzania
Showmax launches a Kiswahili interface for Tanzanian subscribers, reinforcing its commitment to local accessibility and strengthening its position as Africa’s top streamer.
Showmax, Africa’s homegrown streaming service, has become the first streaming platform to offer an interface in Kiswahili for Tanzanian subscribers, marking a step forward in its mission to become Africa’s leading streaming service.
This follows a number of other continental firsts, like becoming the first streamer to make mobile downloads possible for offline viewing, the first to launch a mobile-only plan, the first to launch a standalone Premier League mobile offering, and the first to stream a local concert.
According to UNESCO, Kiswahili is the most widely spoken African language in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as one of the 10 most widely spoken languages in the world, with more than 230 million speakers.
The introduction of the Kiswahili interface is part of a broader strategy to enhance the overall user experience on Showmax for Africans. The service relaunched in February 2024 in South Africa in partnership with Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Sky, running on a completely new app powered by Peacock. Showmax has since rolled out localised relaunches in countries including Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and Tanzania, with a priority on local content and accessibility through localised payment solutions.
Local content and offerings in local language continue to resonate strongly across the continent. Nine of the 10 most-streamed titles on Showmax last year were local, because our audiences want to see content that relates to their local cultures. Adding Kiswahili as a navigation option makes Showmax even more accessible and personal to a large market segment in Africa.– Byron du Plessis, CEO, MultiChoice South Africa
