Cashing in on cultural exports

• For players in the creative economy, Afrobeats as an asset class is becoming an attractive alternative with Spotify streams up 550 percent.
• Africa’s creative economy is projected to reach $200 billion by 2030.
• Afreximbank signs $1 billion initiative to support creative industries in Africa.

Creativity is edging a notch higher with Afrobeats as an asset class, emerging as investable undertaking, including by players in Africa. According to Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy, the Sub-Saharan Africa Spotify Managing Director, the Sub-Saharan Africa music industry is the fastest growing worldwide, with revenue up over 20 percent in 2025 alone.

She also alludes to the fact that over the last decade, Afrobeats have leapfrogged by a 550 percent increase in Spotify streams alone deeming it worthy of the classification of a cultural export product. “Afrobeats is now characterized as a high-velocity growth sector attracting international institutional investment, and monetizing through streaming, publishing, and global live events,” she detailed in a recent interview.

Another evidence of Afrobeats’ growing popularity is the fact that for the first time in history, twelve African artists from four countries were nominated across multiple categories in the 2025 Grammys, notes the Spotify Managing Director.

“The nominations reflect Afrobeats’ rise and African music’s global impact,” she explains.

According to the sector expert, investors are treating Afrobeats as a high-growth, alternative asset. For example, Afreximbank is said to have inked a $1 billion initiative to support creative industries in Africa based on Afrobeats growth.

Similarly IFC and Sony Group are also reported to have established a fund to invest in Africa’s creative sector. Already there are major deals signed with industry leaders like Universal Music Group which reportedly acquired a majority stake in the Nigerian label, Mavin Global, a deal estimated to value between $150 and $200 million.

You also have key players like Africori which has been acquired by Warner Music and Mdundo, a streaming platform that also works on monetize artists rights.

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Afrobeats changing Africa stereotypes, monetizing Afrobeats

According to Africa No Filter, stereotypes give a wrong picture of Africa “…as a hungry child or a region of risk cost,” which scares investors. “How Africa is perceived shapes how it develops. When outdated stories of poverty, conflict, and crisis dominate, they shrink imagination, erode trust, and limit investment,” the advocacy agency warns.

In it’s recent campaign under the hashtag #stopbandaid Africa No Filter points out that as a result of negative narratives of Africa by mainstream media “the continent is losing an estimated $4.2 billion in annual interest rates.”

Also, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), “Africa could save up to $74.5 billion if credit ratings reflected the financial risks more accurately.” “Global media has a responsibility to move beyond stereotypes to highlight African success stories and innovations,” Africa No Filter insists.

Should the stereotypes change, the Brookings Institution foresees growth in monetizing Afrobeats. In a report titled “The rise of Africa’s creative economy” the Brookings Institution says Africa’s creative economy is projected to reach $200 billion by 2030, which will constitute an estimated 10 percent of global exports in creative goods.

Published earlier this month, the report cites several channels for monetizing Afrobeats. “Afrobeats is moving from informal, fragmented collections to structured, digital-first revenue streams,” the report notes.

Among the highlighted monitization avenues is streaming, which the report says Afrobeats revenue grew by 22.6 percent to clock $110 million, two-thirds of this coming from streaming. “Afrobeats’ growth comes on the back of the global growth in music streaming, which now makes up 67 percent of music industry revenues,” the report details.

The report also cites concerts, brand partnerships, synchronization (licensing for film/TV), and intellectual property (IP) rights. Advertisements are another revenue channel for Afrobeats given it’s high audience engagement.

“Afrobeats fans are highly engaged, spending 121 percent more on music categories per month than the average U.S. listener,” reads the report in part.

However, the report also cautions of structural gaps that affect value retention within Africa. On top of that list is haphazard payment of royalties; “While Afrobeats generates hundreds of millions globally, a significant portion of royalties goes uncollected or unclaimed due to poor data management, inconsistent metadata, and inefficient local Collective Management Organizations (CMOs)” the report decries.

It also points to ‘ownership disparity’ 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 alludes to high mobile data costs which limits access to internet affecting the growth of domestic consumption.

As part of the solution, the report compliments  the growing ‘Rights-Tech’ platforms which use AI and blockchain to audit royalties, and manage intellectual property rights. Another solution is ‘Cultural Export’ which  bundles music with fashion, gaming, and film which in turn helps to assure funds reach the artists and their home countries in full.

“As tracking and collection improve, the valuation of African music catalogs is expected to rise, driven by increasing international demand and better structured, bankable IP,” the report notes.

In her November 2025 report titled “Royalties, Rights, and Returns: Why Africa’s Next Billion-Dollar Opportunity Lies in Music IP” Phylis Atieno calls for ‘re-collection’ of unclaimed royalties.

“Through recovery of lost royalties, and turning fragmented music usage data into actual cash flows…platforms that can identify, claim, and recover that hidden revenue stand to create high-growth,” she writes.

Afrobeats as an asset class: Why polies should support creative economy

It is high time that African policymakers recognize cultural export as a key revenue channel and in support the growth of Afrobeats in their respective countries and continent wide as well. The figures speak for themselves and should be music to investors given the fact “…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, released this month, Afrobeats total trade revenues reached $29.6 billion in 2024, up by 4.8 percent. “Streaming music in Africa alone is set to generate close to $500 million by 2025,” the report underscores.

In her comments during the launch of the report, Victoria Oakley, CEO, IFPI appealed to African policymakers to back Afrobeats. “We are asking policymakers to protect music and artistry. We must harness the potential of AI to support and amplify human creativity, not to replace it,” the CEO said.

“Music can play an essential 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 don’t happen by accident,” rather she said “…they reflect the brilliant creativity, vision and hard work of artists and songwriters around the globe.”

That been said, she called on policymakers to make supportive policies and regulations that help artists secure their due revenues.

“One of the key issues we’ve 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 ingesting copyright-protected music to train their models without authorisation from the rightsholders,” she highlighted the problem.

None puts it into perspective better than Professor Olufunmilayo Arewa in his paper published by the Harvard’s Centre for the Study of African Economies and Societies (CSASE); “Africa is losing the vast majority of Afrobeats-generated wealth due to structural flaws in the related deals.”

“Afrobeats is enriching the world, but Africa is not capturing its rightful economic share. Without decisive action, the continent risks losing billions from its most globally influential cultural asset,” he warns.