Google says it hopes to make video content affordable to mobile users of YouTube in Nigeria and select African markets.

It is part of the search giant’s plan which earlier rolled out the YouTube offline playback feature in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and South Africa.

[quote font=”georgia” font_size=”22″ font_style=”italic” align=”left” arrow=”yes”]For videos where this feature is available, users can choose to save the video for offline viewing by tapping on the offline icon. Once saved offline, videos can be played without an Internet connection for up to 48 hours. But the YouTube feature excludes music videos.[/quote]“Offline playback is just a start. We working on even more ways to make video content more affordable and accessible to our growing base of mobile users in the region,” Matthew Darby, Product Manager at Google says.

The feature allows YouTube app users save many videos offline in the YouTube mobile app to watch later during periods of low or no internet connectivity.

For videos where this feature is available, users can choose to save the video for offline viewing by tapping on the offline icon. Once saved offline, videos can be played without an Internet connection for up to 48 hours. But the YouTube feature excludes music videos.

Darby says that majority of YouTube videos in Nigeria and the other countries will become available for people to view offline, from movies to local comedy and unboxings.

“Making these popular videos available for offline playback will help people move past the challenges of data connection, speed and cost to enjoy a smooth, buffer-free version of their favorite content”, according to the Google Manager.