Afrobeats and the Nigerian Economy: We're Winning but Are We Really?

When Burna Boy sold out Madison Square Garden, the whole country felt it. When Rema's 'Calm Down' became the most-streamed Afrobeats song on Spotify, we celebrated. When Tems won a Grammy, we claimed it as a national victory. Afrobeats has put Nigeria on the global map in ways that decades of diplomatic efforts couldn't achieve. 

It is a cultural export powerhouse, and yes, it's bringing money into the economy. But while Afrobeats is making Nigeria look good internationally, a lot of that money; and the talent creating it; is leaving the country. We're winning, but are we really winning?

The Money Is Real (And It's A Lot)

Let's start with the good news, because it genuinely is impressive that Afrobeats has become an economic force touching multiple sectors of the economy.

Tourism is booming. 

The recent December celebrations saw many people in the diaspora swarming into the country. 

Detty December has become a legitimate season in Lagos. Every year, thousands of diaspora Nigerians and even international visitors flood into the country mostly for concerts and festivals. They're booking hotels, eating at restaurants, hiring drivers, shopping, and long story short, pumping money into the local economy. When Wizkid announces a show at the Eko Atlantic, Bolt drivers bless his name because they know how much they're going to cash out.

Job creation is massive. 

Behind every Afrobeats hit is an entire ecosystem of people earning a living. Music producers, sound engineers, video directors, choreographers, makeup artists, stylists, graphics designers, creative directors, models and vixens, PR and social media managers, event planners, security personnel, and so many more. When Rema drops an album, hundreds of people have worked on that project in various capacities.

Soft power translates to economic opportunity. 

Afrobeats has made Nigeria cool. International brands want to work with Nigerian artists. Investors are paying attention to Nigerian creative industries. The brand that Afrobeats has built for Nigeria opens doors for other sectors; fashion, tech, film. Because if the music is so great, what else is good in that country? Let's check it out.

When people think of Nigeria now, they don't just think of oil or fraud; they think of vibrant culture and creativity.

Reports estimate that the Nigerian music industry contributes billions of naira annually to the GDP. UNESCO even recognized Nigeria's music industry as a significant economic contributor.

But Here's The Leaky Bucket…

All this success, all this global recognition, all this money yet, Nigeria is struggling to keep it within our borders.

The revenue isn't staying in Nigeria.

Most top Afrobeats artists bank abroad, spend abroad, and invest abroad. Their record deals are with international labels. Their management companies are overseas. Their business infrastructure is set up outside Nigeria. So while they're making millions, the bulk of that money circulates in foreign economies, not ours.

Artists are physically leaving.

This is the bigger, more troubling trend. 

One of Nigeria's brightest starrs, recently relocated to New York. Why? Better recording studios, better producers readily available, better networking opportunities with international collaborators, and frankly, better infrastructure to support her career growth.

She's not alone. Tems spends most of her time abroad now. Rema is barely in Nigeria. Even artists who maintain homes in Nigeria spend significant time overseas because that's where the industry infrastructure is. They travel to London, LA, or Atlanta to record. They shoot videos abroad. They meet with their teams abroad.

Think about what this means. These artists are still Nigerian, still repping the flag, still claiming the culture, but their money, their time, and their economic impact are happening elsewhere. We get the pride of saying "that's our artist," but other countries get the tax revenue, the local spending, the job creation that comes with having these mega-stars actually living and working within their borders.

Why are they leaving? 

It's not because they don't love Nigeria. It's because Nigeria hasn't built the infrastructure to support them at the level their careers demand. We don't have world-class recording studios that can compete with what's available in LA or London. Our music business legal framework is still developing. Some Nigerians don't even know that Entertainment law is a thing. 

Copyright protection is weak.

The bitter irony is that Afrobeats is a Nigerian sound, created by Nigerian artists, rooted in Nigerian culture, but to take it to the highest level, our artists have to leave Nigeria. We created the crop, but other countries are harvesting it.

What We're Losing

The long-term implications of this talent and revenue drain are serious, and we need to talk about them honestly.

The ecosystem that should exist here isn't developing. When Tems moves abroad, she's not just relocating herself. She's taking her spending power; the studios she books, the producers she hires, the stylists she works with, the restaurants she eats at, the accommodation she pays for. All of that economic activity that could have been happening in here is now happening over there. Multiply that by dozens of successful artists, and you start to see the scale of what we're losing.

We're not building the next generation of infrastructure.

When artists have to go abroad to access top-tier facilities and services, there's no incentive to build those facilities here. Why would someone invest in a world-class recording studio in Lagos when all the top artists will fly to LA to record anyway? It's a vicious cycle. The infrastructure doesn't exist, so artists leave. Because artists leave, no one invests in infrastructure.

Young talent is learning the wrong lesson.

 Every aspiring Nigerian artist sees the blueprint now: make it big, just enough to have an international audience, then leave. The dream isn't just success; it's success that gets you out. This mindset means that even the next generation of Afrobeats stars are planning their exit before they've even blown up. We're breeding talent for export.

The government and private sector aren't stepping up.

While Afrobeats artists are generating billions and putting Nigeria on the global stage, what is the government doing to support the industry? Where are the tax incentives for music businesses? Where are the investments in creative infrastructure? Where are the copyright protections that would make Nigeria a safe place to do music business?

Private sector investment has been minimal too. Yes, some brands sponsor concerts and sign endorsement deals, but where are the Nigerian investors building world-class studios, funding music tech startups, or creating the business infrastructure that would keep our talent at home?

The painful truth is that we're celebrating Afrobeats' global success while watching the foundation of that success steadily move abroad. We're applauding the fruits while ignoring that the tree is being uprooted.

So What Now?

Here's where we are: Afrobeats has absolutely transformed how the world sees Nigeria, and yes, it has brought economic benefits. Tourism is up. Jobs have been created. We have a cultural export that rivals anything else Nigeria produces. That's actually really amazing, and we should acknowledge and celebrate it.

But we can't ignore that we're leaving so much money on the table. We can't pretend it's fine that our biggest stars have to leave the country to reach their full potential. We can't act like it's normal that the infrastructure to support a multi-billion-naira industry simply doesn't exist at the level it should.

The question isn't whether Afrobeats is good for Nigeria's economy, only an insane person would deny that it is. The question is: are we doing enough to maximize that impact and ensure it's sustainable?

Right now, we're not. We're letting other countries capture the revenue, and reap the long-term economic benefits of an industry that Nigeria created. We're exporting our talent and importing their success stories to inspire another generation that we'll export, once more. 

If we're serious about Afrobeats being an economic pillar for Nigeria, we need to build the ecosystem here. Better studios. Better legal frameworks. Better copyright protection. Better power supply. Better business environment. Better everything that would make an artist like Ayra Starr say "I can build my global career from Lagos" instead of "I need to move to NY to compete."

Until then, we'll keep celebrating our artists' international wins while watching the economic benefits of those wins accrue elsewhere. We're winning, yes. But we could be winning so much more.

The choice is ours.