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 border and regulatory challenges faced by African artists and businesses.
As aired by Joy News, Mr Eazi spoke 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,” where he reflected on his career spanning music and entrepreneurship.
“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.
He said touring within Africa was more difficult than performing outside the continent during the early years of his career.
He also said, “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.”
Recounting an incident at the Kenyan border, Mr Eazi said he was prevented from entering the country despite being paid to perform.
“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 added.
He said the incident reflected broader challenges in cross-border 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 said.
Mr Eazi said Africa must focus on implementation to fully benefit from the African Continental Free Trade Area.
“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 from his business experience, he said he has invested in companies operating in 19 African countries.
“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 said.
The ‘Leg Over’ crooner also said cross-border barriers affect young people the most.
“The young people under the age of 35, we actually don’t care about borders,” he said, noting that collaboration now happens “via the internet, via cross-border collaboration in business and in creativity.”
While acknowledging that frameworks such as AfCFTA are already in place, Mr Eazi said execution remains the key issue. “What remains is the important work of implementation,” he said.
He added that easing cross-border movement does not weaken sovereignty. “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.
He said improved connectivity would support business growth across the continent. “A more connected Africa is how SMEs grow into continental champions,” he said.
He concluded by urging Africans to remove barriers holding the continent back. “When Africa moves together, we do not lose strength. We multiply it… If we make Africa borderless, Africa becomes unstoppable,” he said.
