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.
