Natyf+, a streaming service from Canadian broadcaster Natyf TV — a Montréal-based channel described as carrying programming created by and for "Francophone racialized communities in the province of Quebec" — went live in Côte d'Ivoire on 18 June 2026, becoming the first known Canadian streaming platform with a dedicated entry into a streaming and pay-TV market currently dominated by French companies.
The launch was held at Villa Colomb in Cocody Les Ambassades, an Abidjan diplomatic quarter. Among those present were Amadou Coulibaly, Minister of Communication and government spokesperson; Françoise Remarck, Minister of Culture and Francophonie; and Sandra Choufani, Canada's ambassador to Côte d'Ivoire. Jean-Yves Roux is president of Natyf TV.
The Natyf+ catalog details were not fully set out. An Ivorian government source said the platform includes a generalist channel for Afro, Arab, and Latino communities and is seeking to add African and, specifically, Ivorian productions. At the launch, the Natyf+ team cited investments estimated at 8.5 billion CFA francs, or about €13.0 million, tied to "la mise en avant des contenus," a French phrase meaning the foregrounding or visibility of content. The source did not explain whether that figure covers commissioning, marketing, licensing, acquisitions, production, platform costs, or payments to rights holders, leaving this open as a question of whether Natyf+ plans to become a real buyer or backer of original African and Ivorian work, or mainly a new distribution outlet.
Minister Coulibaly said the launch "opens new prospects for the distribution, promotion and monetization of Ivorian and African content."
Canal+ leads pay-TV across francophone Africa, and its position has grown as the owner of South African operator MultiChoice, forming a group of more than 40 million subscribers across nearly 70 countries in Africa, Europe, and Asia. It also produces locally: Canal+ is the majority owner of the Ivorian production company Plan A. Netflix also bundles its offering inside Canal+'s infrastructure across Francophone African markets.
The other key French player is the relatively new entrant, TF1+, a free, ad-supported streaming service, which has operated in 21 francophone African countries, including Côte d'Ivoire, since 30 June 2025.
In this environment, Natyf+'s distinct feature is probably its payment model: priced at 200 CFA francs, or about €0.30, for pay-as-you-go viewing/use, and 500 CFA francs, or about €0.76, for subscription access, with mobile money payment, no bank card requirement, and no mandatory monthly commitment.
The Canadian arrival dates back to Natyf TV's attendance at SICA, the Salon International du Contenu Audiovisuel — the Abidjan film, TV, and digital media market run by the Communication Ministry — at its second edition in November 2024, and its return for the third edition in June 2025 as a registered buyer. The local platform launch a year later is the kind of foreign investment SICA was built to draw.
And it comes as Côte d'Ivoire updates and expands its audiovisual relationships with francophone partners outside West Africa. The country has non-African film co-production treaties with France (1995) and, since 2025, the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (French Belgium). It has none with Canada, whose only treaty partner on the continent is South Africa.
The official record does not support any claim that Canada and Côte d'Ivoire are moving toward a co-production treaty. It does show sustained contact over the past two years. For now, it's a relationship to watch, as Natyf+ expands,
By the way, Natyf has not announced any further African rollouts beyond Côte d'Ivoire. Its own public record, however, suggests the Ivorian launch is part of a wider West African outreach effort, including its participation in FACT Dakar, a Senegal-based forum for women, in April 2025 and, of course, its SICA 2025 mission in Abidjan, where it said it was working to open the North American market to African producers.
This report was first published to Akoroko Premium subscribers.