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Afrobeats sensation Oluwatosin Ajibade, popularly known as Mr Eazi, has revealed that navigating tours across Africa posed greater challenges than performing in the United States or Europe during the early years of his career.
The singer shared his experiences while speaking at the 2026 Africa Prosperity Dialogue, themed “Empowering SMEs, Women and Youth in Africa’s Single Market: Innovate, Collaborate, Trade,” as reported by Joy News. Reflecting on his journey spanning music and entrepreneurship, Mr Eazi explained the difficulties artists face when moving across African borders.
“In the last ten years, I have spent six of those years as a singer touring the world and four of those years doing a lot of entrepreneurship. Two things stand out to me,” he said, highlighting the hurdles he encountered on the continent.
According to Mr Eazi, strict border controls and regulatory requirements made performing in Africa more complicated than it was overseas, even at the height of his fame. “In the first six years of my rise, particularly the first two years of me blowing up, it was easier to tour America and Europe than it was to tour Africa, even though I had some of the biggest songs… once I had the number one song in Africa, touring here became even harder,” he admitted.
The singer recounted a personal incident in Kenya that illustrated the problem. “I remember two occasions, one of me going into Kenya with my band. Even though I had been paid to perform, I was stopped at the border. My band, which included members of other nationalities, were allowed to enter, but I — the lead artist who was being paid the most — had to wait,” he said, pointing to the structural obstacles that hinder movement.
“That incident speaks to the reality of the friction that is being put in place — friction that stops us from uniting, stops us from being stronger, and prevents us from developing,” he added, underlining how bureaucratic delays can stifle creativity and economic growth.
Mr Eazi also stressed the importance of fully implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which aims to reduce barriers across the continent. “Borders as they currently function create friction in movements, in payments, in regulation and in the abilities of small and medium-scale enterprises to scale,” he said.
Drawing on his entrepreneurial experience, the singer shared that he has invested in multiple businesses across Africa. “One of which I’m really proud of is a company that is live in 19 African countries and processes four million transactions a day,” he revealed.
He highlighted that young Africans are most affected by cross-border restrictions. “The young people under the age of 35, we actually don’t care about borders,” Mr Eazi said. He emphasized that modern collaboration now thrives through digital platforms and cross-border projects in business and creative industries.
While acknowledging that policy frameworks are in place, Mr Eazi said the challenge is proper implementation. “What remains is the important work of implementation,” he noted.
He concluded with a call to action for African leaders, urging them to make it easier for people to move, trade, and build across the continent. “We are not speaking about removing nations or weakening sovereignty. We are speaking of enabling the commitments already made and allowing people to move, trade, and build within Africa more efficiently, securely, and lawfully… When Africa moves together, we do not lose strength. We multiply it… If we make Africa borderless, Africa becomes unstoppable,” he said.
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