- For players in the creative economy, Afrobeats as an asset class is becoming an attractive alternative, with Spotify streams increasing by 550 percent.
- Africa’s creative economy is expected to reach $200 billion by 2030.
- Afreximbank signs a $1 billion initiative to support Africa’s creative industries.
The creativity is taking a step further as Afrobeats as an asset class is emerging as an investable company, including by players in Africa. According to Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy, Spotify Managing Director Sub-Saharan Africa, the Sub-Saharan music industry is the fastest growing in the world, with revenue increasing by more than 20 percent by 2025 alone.
She also alludes to the fact that Afrobeats has leapfrogged in the past decade with a 550 percent increase in Spotify streams alone, deeming it worthy of the classification of a cultural export. “Afrobeats is now characterized as a fast-growing sector attracting international institutional investment and generating revenue through streaming, publishing and global live events,” she said in a recent interview.
Further proof of the growing popularity of Afrobeats is the fact that for the first time in history, twelve African artists from four countries have been nominated in multiple categories for the 2025 Grammys, notes Spotify’s chief executive.
“The nominations reflect the rise of Afrobeats and the global impact of African music,” she explains.
According to the sector expert, investors are treating Afrobeats as a fast-growing, alternative asset. For example, Afreximbank is said to have initiated a $1 billion initiative to support the creative industries in Africa based on the growth of Afrobeats.
Similarly, IFC and Sony Group are also said to have set up a fund to invest in Africa’s creative sector. Major deals have already been signed with industry leaders such as Universal Music Group, which has reportedly acquired a majority stake in Nigerian label Mavin Global, a deal estimated to be worth between $150 million and $200 million.
You also have major players like Africori, which has been acquired by Warner Music, and Mdundo, a streaming platform that is also working on monetizing artist rights.
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Afrobeats are changing the stereotypes of Africa and generating income from Afrobeats
According to Africa No Filter, stereotypes misrepresent Africa “… as a hungry child or a region with risk costs,” which scares investors. “The perception of Africa determines how it develops. When outdated narratives about poverty, conflict and crises dominate, they diminish imagination, undermine confidence and limit investment,” the advocacy group warns.
In its recent campaign under the hashtag #stopbandaid, Africa No Filter points out that as a result of negative stories about Africa by the mainstream media, “the continent is losing an estimated $4.2 billion in annual interest rates.”
Furthermore, according to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Africa “could save up to $74.5 billion if credit ratings more accurately reflected financial risks.” “The global media has a responsibility to move beyond stereotypes and highlight African success stories and innovations,” Africa No Filter emphasizes.
Should stereotypes change, the Brookings Institution expects growth in Afrobeats monetization. In a report entitled “The rise of Africa’s creative economyAccording to the Brookings Institute, Africa’s creative economy is expected to reach $200 billion by 2030, accounting for an estimated 10 percent of global exports of creative goods.
The report, published earlier this month, mentions several channels for monetizing Afrobeats. “Afrobeats is evolving from informal, fragmented collections to structured, digital-first revenue streams,” the report said.
One of the main ways to generate revenue is streaming. According to the report, Afrobeats’ revenue increased 22.6 percent to $110 million, two-thirds of which came from streaming. “Afrobeats’ growth is driven by the global growth of music streaming, which now accounts for 67 percent of music industry revenues,” the report said.
The report also mentions concerts, brand partnerships, synchronization (film/TV licensing) and intellectual property (IP) rights. Advertising is another revenue channel for Afrobeats, given its high audience engagement.
“Afrobeats fans are highly engaged, spending 121 percent more on music categories monthly than the average American listener,” the report reads in part.
However, the report also warns of structural gaps that impact value retention in Africa. On top of that list is the indiscriminate payment of royalties; “Although Afrobeats generates hundreds of millions worldwide, a significant portion of royalties go uncollected or unclaimed due to poor data management, inconsistent metadata and inefficient local Collective Management Organizations (CMOs),” the report criticizes.
It also points to ‘ownership inequality’, a case where most top artists are signed to foreign labels and management companies, and as a result a large percentage of revenue goes to these foreign entities. It also refers to the high cost of mobile data, which limits access to the Internet, affecting domestic consumption growth.
As part of the solution, the report compliments the growing ‘Rights-Tech’ platforms that use AI and blockchain to control royalties and manage intellectual property rights. Another solution is ‘Cultural Export’, which bundles music with fashion, gaming and film, which in turn ensures that funds fully reach the artists and their home countries.
“As tracking and collection improves, the valuation of African music catalogs is expected to rise, driven by increasing international demand and better structured, marketable intellectual property,” the report said.
In her November 2025 report entitled “Royalties, Rights, and Returns: Why Africa’s Next Billion-Dollar Opportunity Lies in Music IP,” Phylis Atieno calls for the ‘recapture’ of unclaimed royalties.
“By recovering lost royalties and turning fragmented music usage data into actual cash flows, platforms that can identify, claim and recover these hidden revenues can create high growth,” she writes.
Afrobeats as an asset class: why policy should support the creative economy
It is high time that African policy makers recognize cultural exports as an important revenue channel and to support the growth of Afrobeats in their respective countries and across the continent. The numbers speak for themselves and should be music for investors, given that “…global recorded music revenues have grown for the tenth consecutive year,” reports the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).
According to IFPI’s Global Music Report 2025, published this month, Afrobeats’ total merchandise revenues reached $29.6 billion in 2024, up 4.8 percent. “Music streaming in Africa alone will generate nearly $500 million by 2025,” the report underlines.
In her comments at the launch of the report, Victoria Oakley, CEO of IFPI, called on African policymakers to support Afrobeats. “We ask policymakers to protect music and artistry. We must harness the potential of AI to support and enhance human creativity, not replace it,” the CEO said.
“Music can play a vital role in the continued growth of the global economy… What is so exciting is that there is still great potential for further development, through innovation, emerging technologies and investment in both artists and the evolving parts of the growing global music ecosystem,” she said.
The CEO was keen to point out that “…these positive developments do not happen by chance,” she previously said: “…they reflect the brilliant creativity, vision and hard work of artists and songwriters around the world.”
That said, she called on policymakers to create supportive policies and regulations that help artists secure their livelihoods.
“One of the key issues we have looked at in this report is the role of AI in music. However, it is very clear that the developers of generative AI systems are using copyrighted music to train their models without permission from rights holders,” she highlighted the issue.
No one puts it into perspective better than Professor Olufunmilayo Arewa in his article published by Harvard’s Center for the Study of African Economies and Societies (CSASE); “Africa is losing the vast majority of wealth generated by Afrobeats due to structural flaws in the related deals.”
“Afrobeats are enriching the world, but Africa is not capturing its rightful economic share. Without decisive action, the continent risks losing billions of its most influential cultural asset,” he warns.
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