Honesty is our default setting in Africa. When I say Africa, let me use it loosely to mean Nigeria, which is the one we’re most familiar with. We’ve seen so many things happen. But it never stops us. We keep going as a people. You see people perform all kinds of miracles.
When I see some of the content creators, I even wonder how they do what they do. I wish I could be a fly on the wall and see the process behind producing some of those cerebral works that we see all the time. This video from the Ikorodu Boiz clearly demonstrates the hustle that we put in behind all of the work that you see here in Africa and in Nigeria.
We have managed to shoot films without electricity. We recorded hit songs in one small room. People who started the Afrobeats journey will recall some of the craziest, dingiest studios ever. Those were the places where major hit songs were recorded, and I think we need to find a way to document some of those past experiences that show the sheer genius of our people.
Sometimes, you’re at odds with wanting to criticise Nigeria because on one hand, we know all of the shortcomings we have as a nation, but on the other hand, we see the abundance of talent and resources and the ingenuity that we see every day. So Nigeria, or maybe Nigerians, are like the proverbial rose that grew on concrete. You know, people do the most unimaginable stuff when it comes to creativity despite the limitations.
And here’s the uncomfortable truth. What got us here, what got us to be a household name in Africa and around the whole world, will not take us where we want to be. I think that once we understand that, we’ll see the need for us to switch to infrastructure mode and leave hustle alone.
According to one of the top consulting firms in the world, the creative and entertainment industry could generate around 14 to 15 billion dollars by 2025. That’s the statistics that they gave, and this is up from about 4 to 5 billion dollars projected a decade ago. This means that we have tripled that number in just a decade.
I always tell my children that I grew up very poor. “I grew up in the basement of the basement of the basement. You thank God for God’s mercy. You are starting on the fifth floor. So if I can get here starting from the basement, imagine what you can achieve starting on the fifth floor.” So if we can 3x our numbers in just a decade, you can imagine what we can do now that the numbers are growing.
Nigeria’s creative economy contributed only 1.2% to our GDP. Again, if you look at the numbers, you’re tempted to say the math is actually not correct because if you have 3x the number to get to about what they are saying, 10 to 15 billion. Still, you are only contributing 1 to 2% to the Gross Domestic Product, so it’s not adding up.
The people we are competing against in South Africa contribute about 3% to their GDP. In Morocco, the contribution is about 2.7%. Egypt’s creative sector, interestingly, has a 4.3% contribution to its GDP. So if we are contributing 1.2% imagine what will happen if we can raise it to about 5%.
Let’s not forget that Nigeria is a very young country with the very youngest population. What happens if we can raise it to 5%? We’re able to hire more people. We can get more people employed. We can produce the next set of millionaires from this industry. And that’s why when you see people moving, let’s not look at just the fluff and the celebrity status around certain people.
Davido is a multi-million dollar business as an individual because when he moves, he moves with his management, he moves with his stylist, and he moves with his road manager. The number of people who earn their living from Davido, Wizkid, Olamide and Burna Boy is substantial. So let’s ignore the window dressing and the stardom that comes with buying all of the cars. These individuals are mobile industries, and I think we need to produce more of such people.
Afrobeats has literally opened the doors of global music. That’s where we are today, a world where Afrobeats is recognised. Back in the days, if I was in a shop outside the country and I heard Nigerian music being played, I always felt so excited. Today, if I’m with my in-laws somewhere in remote Germany and Burna Boy or Ayra Starr comes on the radio, I keep doing what I’m doing because for me, it’s normal.
We’ve shaken the global music industry to the point that it’s not abnormal to hear Nigerian songs anywhere in the world. I am aware of the current situation with Burna Boy and one of his concerts. I’m here to say nobody’s perfect. Burna is one of our own, and we should never think of joining the world to cancel Burna.
We want to go global. Yes, we want to go international, but certain things come with stepping out of your zone. When you step out and want to go global, there are implications to consider. And one of them is that most of the platforms for publishing, spreading and distributing our music are not owned by us.
Most of the data system and the pipelines behind the success are owned outside Africa. That’s what’s happening now. So all of the foreign record labels are coming into Nigeria today to sign this new artiste; they own all of the data, the rights, and the publishing. And you know what is happening now? They won’t tell you this, but the data they get from all of the work is used to train AI. So, in a couple of years, there will be AI Afrobeat artists that these platforms won’t even need people to sing Afrobeats anymore.
Recently, there have been discussions of AI artists who are topping some of the major distribution platforms. There’s so much more going on out there that we need to take cognisance of.
Let’s set music aside for a second and examine the Nollywood paradox. There is this promotional video for one of my favourite movies of all time, Anikulapo by Kunle Afolayan. This was advertised in Spanish. It just tells you how far we’ve gone in the Caribbean and everywhere. Our movie is taking the world by storm. But what do we still have? Filmmakers still operate with epileptic power, little or no funding and minimal distribution because again, all of the platforms that distribute most of these things are not owned and not controlled by us.
Those are the challenges that we currently face.
Let’s talk about the creator economy explosion. This is where the Hauwas of this world, the Mr Macaronis of this world, and the Sabinus of this world come in. It’s really exploded. And when I see people like Hauwa, I envy what she does. However, on the other hand, we lost another copywriter because this is an individual who could have been a brilliant copywriter in an advertising agency. It means that they are on a different platform, generating revenue for themselves and doing really good business, and we wish to see more of that happen.
Even in the cryptocurrency economy space, what do we still have that is a dominant thing that you see every day? Many creators still lack legal protection, contracts, predictable income, and mental health support because of the stress they have to go through in trying to obtain these things. We actually need to put all of this support in place for them.
Now the hustle is impressive, but the structure is very fragile. That is the summary of everything that I have shared with us today. So what must be done again with NEClive? I recall the first NEClive, which was in 2013. I think X3M Ideas was just one year old. I came up here, I was still a lot skinnier, I came here, and I had a great time. But I’m glad we’re back here after so many years, and it’s just not about talking.
Build policies that protect creativity. We are aware of existing IP laws, but we need to strengthen them. Fast-track copyright courts. There will always be disputes, either in music or anywhere. So let us go to court. Let us resolve it. Going to court is actually not a bad thing. It’s so we can tie up some of the loose ends. Let us fast-track the process so that an artist does not stay 20 or 30 years in court before they get a resolution.
Create tax incentives. You know the new tax law is going to take place from next year. From the government’s point of view, I can totally understand why they want to raise and enlarge the tax bracket. But can we create incentives for some of our people working in the creative space?
You can imagine if in the major metropolises of Nigeria, say Enugu, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Lagos and possibly Ibadan. You create certain hubs that are creative enterprise zones and where the government invests in fast internet and maybe co-working spaces, to create places where people can go, start small and begin to grow. That will be fantastic.
Finance the future. We need to finance the future with creative venture funds and IP-backed lending. In today’s world, every IP you own should be enough to borrow money from the bank because it’s valuable. How can you use your IP to borrow money? Better revenue-sharing models between people who are end users of some of these products, such as brand supporters and the talents creating them.
We also need to train for tomorrow beyond just the stardom because I know that is where most of our people are so focused on. We are so hung up on wanting to become a star.
There is so much room behind the camera and behind all of the front row seats. We need camera operators, we need editors, we need good sound engineers, and we need even creative lawyers because it’s vital for the industry. We need more creative lawyers to help work that space. We need to measure what matters. There should be a national creative economic dashboard, and there should be a war room where we are constantly measuring important data annually.
For instance, how many jobs have we created in the creative space this year? How do we track the GDP numbers? The number of exports, the number of content performances across platforms and what we miss is that we need this so that we can actually be able to make more case for government support. If we don’t measure, then it doesn’t count, right?
Build the studio stages and platform. Invest in physical and digital infrastructures, arenas, reliable power, and high-speed internet. You know, here we read the blogs about our artistes performing well in other countries. But what we miss is that we are helping others to build their economy. Because it’s not just about shutting down an arena for performance. Taxi drivers made money conveying people to that venue. People who sell snacks at those arenas make money too.
That’s why I was so excited when Davido started touring across Nigeria. As challenging as the environment is in terms of security, it was very daring of him to do that. We need to do more of that. Yet, for them to be able to do more of those things, we need to create the arenas. We need to create an enabling environment. We need to provide security. We need to build all of that for us to transition from hustle to infrastructure.
Hustle cannot remain a permanent strategy. It was good while it lasted. Today, it should be a different ball game, and we need to see that begin to translate.
Culture cannot become the new Cocoa. Back in the days, the western part of Nigeria built the first TV station in West Africa and the tallest building in West Africa, all with cocoa money. But guess what happened? We were exporting cocoa abroad. Just exporting it, raw material.
Now these white boys will take it, add value, do it, and make chocolate. Belgium, which is not even the size of Oyo state, will come up, and its GDP is higher than ours. Why? Because we gave them all of the raw materials, and they gave us the finished product. If we’re not careful, that’s what’s going to happen in our creative sector. Because now all of the foreign labels are signing all of our top artists.
They own the rights. They own the IP rights to some of those materials. They are going to train AI and start exporting Afrobeats back to us in a couple of years, and sell it to us at a premium. We need to be vigilant about that and make sure it doesn’t happen. Culture should not just trend; it should transform. I don’t want to trend. Let it transform our environment. Let it transform our society. Let it transform our nature.
The raw material we’re exporting now is culture, and it shouldn’t just trend. It should transform. Culture should not just inspire. It should pay handsomely. Culture should not just entertain. It should empower. It should empower us.
Now we are feeling proud to be Nigerians. We’re feeling proud to be Africans. We need to be able to hold our heads higher. The world already danced to our tune. It’s time we built the main stage ourselves. So we need to take that power away from the rest of the world and say, “Look, hold my beer. Let us now create a main stage where we’ll now invite the whole world to come and dance.”
The post From hustle to infrastructure: the blueprint for Africa’s creative economy – by Steve Babaeko at NECLive 2025 appeared first on Nigerian Entertainment Today.
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