Hausa-language Nigerian entertainment and lifestyle channel Arewa24 has expanded its slate of programming to mark its seventh anniversary.

The free-to-air satellite channel’s new content will debut next month, featuring original dramas, a women’s talkshow, kids’ edutainment series, football shows and more studio shows.

Among the titles are three Hausa dramas: Buka Afrikana, an ensemble sitcom set in a local diner in Nigeria’s Middle Belt; a new season of Labarna, one of the most popular Northern Nigerian dramas; and mystery crime drama Sirrin Boye.

The women’s talkshow is Mata A Yau, meaning Today’s Woman in Hausa. It will feature four dynamic co-hosts from different backgrounds and ages discussing important issues that women currently face in Northern Nigeria.

Meanwhile, US kids’ favourite Sesame Street will be dubbed into Hausa for the first time, while African children’s animated superhero series Super Sema will also debut in Hausa.

Two football-focused shows will also have their premieres, Homage and Perfection.

In addition, new seasons of Arewa24’s original runaway hit drama series Kwana Casa’in and Dadin Kowa are currently in production and will debut in October.

Arewa24 CEO Jacob Arback said: “Many people don’t realise that there are over 80 million Hausa speakers in Northern Nigeria and the Sahel, and the region is bursting everywhere with young talent.

“What I am most proud of, however, is how our management and staff, comprised of such diverse Nigerian backgrounds, ethnicities, tribes, religions and geographies, can all gather as a team in Kano, Nigeria, to produce some of the best programming coming out of Africa today.”

Arewa24 reaches more than 40 million Hausa speakers in Nigeria and West Africa. This footprint is achieved through its Eutelsat satellite free-to-air broadcast and via the StarTimes pay TV bouquet channel 138, as well as carriage on MultiChoice pay TV platforms DStv and GOtv. It is also available via pay TV platform TSTV and on the Canal+ pay TV service in Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

Most of these new shows will also be immediately available on Arewa24 On Demand, the channel’s global subscription video-on-demand service connecting Hausa-speaking families around the world to Northern Nigerian entertainment, culture and lifestyle.

Arewa24 is owned by US-based not-for-profit organisation Equal Access International and is supported by USAID, UNESCO, the World Bank and other charitable foundations.

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