Amazon Prime Video is channelling its financial resources to give priority to original content from Europe, making a deliberate shift in its investment focus, and slashing content and staff from Africa and the Middle East.

According to Variety magazine, Amazon Prime Video is restructuring a European team which is being divided into two distinct segments, each with a specific focus. “EU Established,” led by Brigitte Ricou-Bellan, and “EU Emerging,” under the leadership of Ritchie Ordonez.

Although confirmed productions such as ‘LOL ZA’ and ‘Ebuka Turns Up Africa’ in the MENA region are moving forward as scheduled, the streaming platform will cease approving new local original content in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and North Africa. 

Despite Prime Video maintaining its presence in these regions, it anticipates implementing staff reductions within local teams.

Variety magazine reports that a staff got an email  from the Vice president of Amazon Prime, Barry Furlong, saying that in a bid to  ensure that the company allocates resources in a way that aligns with customers priorities, he has “carefully evaluated our structure in the region and decided to make some adjustments to our operating model to rebalance and pivot our resources to focus on the areas that drive the highest impact and long-term success.”

He also “believes these changes will improve the operational running of our multi-territory business and allow us to be more agile and focused.”

Apart from uncertainty surrounding potential layoffs within Prime Video’s European teams, Amazon Prime Video intends to fill a new position, the Director of EU Content and Programming Strategy, with the responsibility of working closely with colleagues in both the U.S. and internationally, specifically collaborating on the content strategy and programming initiatives related to the Amazon MGM Studios pipeline.