On-demand video company operating in Kenya, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pesaflix, has launched a music competition aimed at enabling the penetration and provision of affordable local video content to Kenyans, as high cost of monthly subscriptions continues to burden users.
The one-minute freestyle music challenge, dubbed “Pesaflix Rap Challenge,” is targeting hundreds of young people in the content creation sector. It requires participants to sing or rap using official instrumentals, with cash prizes worth Sh250,000 available across the top 10 positions.
Speaking at Redbrick House on Mombasa Road on Thursday, May 28, the tech firm’s director of innovations, Fredrick Alunala, said the music competition will provide capacity to Kenyan singers and rappers, and promote local content while continuing to reinforce confidence in the quality, safety, and efficacy of on-demand videos
“This music competition is just to compliment the work that we do,” Alunala said. “Everything begins with awareness. We are also interested in providing capacity. And we do it for the social benefit; for the users to benefit. Hence, Pesaflix music competition is about meeting the community and young people where they are while giving impactful music content. and ours is done at a very small cost.”
He added that the deadline for all submissions is May 30, 2026, and that the grand finale and announcement of winners will be June 20, 2026, at a Nairobi Hotel.
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Pesaflix, started in 2024, has traditionally offered a video streaming experience with a unique micro-billing payment model, making it the first and biggest on-demand streaming platform in Kenya. It has positioned itself to allow users to rent or stream movies and content on a pay-as-you-go basis using local mobile money, without the need for traditional credit cards. On top, it is taking deliberate steps to strengthen Africa’s video content consumption at a time when every user understands the everyday, familiar challenges of soaring monthly subscription prices.
According to Mr. Alunala, it systematically hurts when a user pays up for a monthly bouquet, and then becomes too busy to watch all the videos. Money is spent on subscription, and within a month you haven’t watched even two or four movies, he points out. Sometimes you don’t have time to watch the movies. Yet you’ve paid for a full package. Days later, you renew your subscription.
“These are valid concerns considering the challenges that have surrounded the on-demand services, especially in Kenya… This made me think of the millions of users globally that have no other option but to pay monthly even if they do not consume the service frequently. We then started researching how to build a VOD solution that will allow a Pay as you Go daily subscription, micro billing model, and this is how we founded Pesaflix,” he said.
The competition will have breakaway sessions where challenges and opportunities of video content production will be addressed. But let’s think of ways to make our video streaming platforms easy to use and also efficient.
