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There have been increasing calls for the need for Nigeria to grow its music ecosystem if the country plans to properly harness the potential of Afrobeats' global commercial appeal.
In a TED X talk delivered at the University of Leeds, Victor Okpala who is Spotify's Manager for artist partnership for West Africa made a call for the urgent need to grow the local music ecosystem.
Okpala stated that while the world is currently dancing to Afrobeats and more international organisation are making headway into the Nigerian music industry, the move is motivated by profit as Nigeria and Africa is still being treated as an incubator to service the needs of the Western markets.
In his speech, Okpala stated that while Nigeria boasts of over 100 million youths scattered around the 36 states, the ecosystem lacks the infrastructure to take live musical experiences to the different states in the manner that Afrobeats is being exported to different parts of the world.
He called for the need for stakeholders in the Nigerian music industry including government, administrators, labels, promoters, media, and others to join forces to provide an environment where the local industry can harness Afrobeats' international growth.
Victor Okpala's call is in line with the sentiments of other stakeholders in the Nigerian music industry who have called for the development of the ecosystem.
At the 2023 Headies Awards, Nigerian superstar Rema called on artists to support the local industry and treat Nigerian fans with respect. Okpala's TED X talk is a reminder of Rema's memorable speech and comes at a time when Nigerian fans have been priced out of the Afrobeats experience that is currently being packaged and exported to the West.