African creators need infrastructure that turns attention into income, Moonshot panel says
Africa’s creators have the talent and the audience. What holds them back is the infrastructure that turns attention into income.
African creators possess talent and audience, but lack the infrastructure to convert attention into income, according to a panel discussion at Moonshot by TechCabal. The session, featuring Richard Oyome, Kene Okwuosa, Darey Art Alade, and Kopano Cowen, highlighted the need for better infrastructure. According to the Nigerian Creator Economy Report 2025, 56.45% of Nigerian creators earn less than $100 a month, while 3.23% earn more than $5,000.
While some money reaches creators, such as Nigerian artists receiving over ₦58 billion from Spotify in 2024, platform payouts are often creators' only income source. Major platforms only started paying Nigerian creators directly in 2024. To address this, panelists suggested growing the market, penetrating international markets, and reducing piracy.
Raenest, a platform offering payments in multiple currencies, processed over $1 billion in payments for over 700,000 customers. However, piracy significantly impacts Nollywood, with estimated annual losses ranging from ₦10 billion to ₦15 billion. Public-private partnerships, policy changes, and collaborations between existing players could help expand the market and create opportunities for African creators.
Written by urgent.news from TechCabal's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
