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When CKay’s “Love Nwantiti” and Wizkid’s “Essence” went viral on TikTok, few could have imagined how much they would change the global music landscape. Those moments brought millions of new listeners, including many who had never heard Nigerian music before, into the world of Afrobeats and set off a wave of international curiosity.
Out of that wave, three artists have come to define the sound and its reach. Burna Boy, Davido, and Wizkid now sit at the forefront of this cultural movement, turning streaming success, sold-out concerts, and global partnerships into major earnings. At the same time, they are helping push Nigeria’s entertainment industry toward a projected $13.6 billion value by 2028.
Nigeria’s entertainment industry eyes $13.6 billion
The transformation is being tracked closely by institutions such as The Rome Business School Nigeria, whose recent report, “The Entertainment Business in Nigeria: A Model for Export,” casts the country’s creative economy as one of the most promising in the world. Valued at $9 billion in 2023, the sector is expected to grow at an annual rate of 8.6 percent, reaching $13.6 billion within five years.
According to the report, the Nigerian entertainment industry is not just thriving, it is serving as a “global model for export,” driven by musicians, filmmakers, digital creators, fashion designers, and comedians who have steadily redefined global culture with a distinctly Nigerian voice. Anthony Ragusa, founder and dean of the Rome Business School, underscored the significance of the moment: “What’s happening in Nigeria is extraordinary. The entertainment industry has achieved global influence without waiting for permission — with passion, innovation, and grit. It’s an economy of imagination.”
He pointed to Nollywood as an example of this ambition in action. The industry, already one of the world’s most prolific, produces more than 2,500 films annually and contributes N154 billion ($100.5 million) to Nigeria’s GDP. Afrobeats, meanwhile, ‘has become the country’s most visible cultural export. Once seen as a niche genre, it is now part of global pop culture, heard in Berlin nightclubs, played on Brooklyn rooftops, and sampled by international chart-toppers.
Nigeria tops Spotify royalties in Africa
Streaming platforms have amplified that reach, with Nigerian artists cementing their place as some of the most sought-after acts on Spotify. In 2024, the Swedish streaming giant reported record royalty payments to African artists, with Nigeria leading the charge over South Africa.
Together, Afrobeats stars such as Davido, Burna Boy, and Wizkid helped drive a share of the $10 billion in royalties Spotify paid globally that year. Nigeria and South Africa, Spotify’s two largest African markets, accounted for $59 million of those payouts, with Nigerian artists claiming the larger portion thanks to stronger export demand.
The numbers highlight just how fast the global appetite for Nigerian music is expanding. Over the past three years, export growth for Nigerian artists has climbed by 49 percent, powered by audiences well beyond Africa’s borders. Around 250 million user-created playlists on Spotify now feature at least one Nigerian artist, while 220 million highlight South African acts.
The ripple effects of that growth are tangible. The number of Nigerian artists earning N10 million ($6,500) or more from Spotify doubled in 2024 compared to the previous year, and has tripled since 2022. In South Africa, the pattern is similar, with the number of artists earning between R100,000 ($5,250) and R500,000 ($26,200) doubling over the past three years.
Music icons boost creative exports
At the center of these changes are Burna Boy, Davido, and Wizkid, whose music continues to dominate global streaming platforms and sell out arenas. Their impact reaches far beyond performance, feeding into Nigeria’s entertainment economy through concerts, brand partnerships, and royalties that support broader industry growth.
The Rome Business School notes that more than 4.2 million Nigerians already work in the creative sector, with another 2.6 million jobs expected by 2025. That projection highlights how entertainment is not only shaping global culture but also becoming a reliable source of jobs and income at home.
What began with a viral TikTok sound has turned into a multi-billion-dollar export engine, with Nigeria’s entertainment economy gaining traction in ways few industries in the country have managed. Burna Boy, Davido, and Wizkid remain its most visible ambassadors, carrying Afrobeats to new markets, while their success underscores a wider story, that Nigeria’s creative economy has found a way to scale globally, one beat, one film, and one trend at a time.
