Mr Eazi highlights cross-border challenges in Africa, urging improved connectivity for artists, SMEs, and youth at 2026 Africa Prosperity Dialogue
Afrobeats musician Oluwatosin Ajibade, popularly known as Mr Eazi, has said touring Europe and the United States was easier than touring Africa in the early years of his career, highlighting broader regulatory and cross-border challenges facing African artists and businesses.
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Speaking on Friday at the 2026 Africa Prosperity Dialogue, held under the theme “Empowering SMEs, Women and Youth in Africa’s Single Market: Innovate, Collaborate, Trade,” Mr Eazi reflected on a career spanning music and entrepreneurship.
“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,” he said.
He recounted an incident at the Kenyan border, where he was prevented from entering the country despite being paid to perform.
“My band, which included members of other nationalities, were allowed to enter, but I the lead artist had to wait,” he said, citing the episode as illustrative of friction that inhibits unity, development, and growth on the continent.
Mr Eazi emphasised that borders currently impede movement, payments, regulation, and the ability of small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) to scale.
Drawing from his business experience, he highlighted a company operating in 19 African countries that processes four million transactions daily.
“The young people under the age of 35, we actually don’t care about borders,” he said, noting that collaboration increasingly occurs through the internet and cross-border business and creative partnerships.
While acknowledging frameworks such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Mr Eazi stressed that the challenge lies in execution.
“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,” he said.
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He concluded with a call to action: “When Africa moves together, we do not lose strength. We multiply it… If we make Africa borderless, Africa becomes unstoppable.”
