Much like the successful Nollywood film industry, Nigeria’s music industry is gaining traction, offering a gleam of hope amid the country’s worst economic crisis in decades. A report by auditing firm PwC shows revenue from music sales stood at US$56 million last year and is expected to increase to US$88 million by 2019.

Africa’s most populous nation’s entertainment and media industry had an estimated total revenue of US$4.8 billion in 2015 and could grow to roughly US$8.1 billion within the next three years – making it the world’s fastest-expanding major market, according to a CNBC Africa report.

Deji Awokoya, general manager of Megaletrics, which operates three Lagos radio stations and another in London, says that with the advent of social media, Nigerian music is more readily available outside of the country. In fact, local artists who sing and rap over electronic backing tracks – a genre known as Afrobeats – have seen their popularity spill over into record sales and sold-out concerts across the continent and into the UK and US.

12 July 2016
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