The 9th edition of the All Africa Music Awards ( AFRIMA ) Day – 2 event, the All Africa Music Business Summit ( A M B S ), has identified policy reform, technology adoption and stringer collaboration as major pillars needed to deepen the growth of Africa’s music industry.
The summit held on Thursday, January 8, 2026, at the Eko Convention Centre, Lagos brought together Industries leaders, artistes, policymakers, diplomats, and global stakeholders to discuss ownership, investment, distribution, copyright and the future of African music on global stage.
With the theme “Connect, Build, Owns: Monetizing Africa’s Music Revolution, the conversations went beyond performances and popularity, focusing instead on how Africa music can be better structured, protects and monitized.
According to a statement by Mr. Adejuwon Osunnuyi, Media Relation of AFRIMA disclosed that the President of AFRIMA, Mr. Mike Dada in his welcome address, stated that the African music industry must now pay more attention to the business side if it want to grow sustainability.
Noting that African music is not only about songs and vibes but is about building the business aspect of the Industry.
And added that Africa Music Business Summit was created to bridge the gap between creatives and decision – makers. “Africa Business Summit is designed to expose African artistes to business leaders within the sector on the continent,” he stated.
In her keynote address, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden to Nigeria, MS Anna Wester holm, praised the rapid development of African music and encouraged young creative to believe in their abilities, regardless of their background.
“Talent knowns no bounds, whether you are born into affluence or poverty,” she said. According to her, Africa is now home to some of the most exciting talents in the world.
“The most existing music talents globally are not in America, Sweden, or UK but in Africa, especially in Nigeria” Wester holm said.
She explained how Sweden built a strong music industry from the 1990s and has become one of the world’s leading exporters of music, adding that African Countries can also leverage music for economic development.
The Ambassador also reaffirmed Sweden readiness to partner with African creatives in monetisation and global promotion.
The African Union Commission, Head of Culture Division, MS Angela Martins, who spoke at the summit, described music and creative as a key drivers of development, unity and creation across Africa.
She said; “At the African Union Commission, we recognize music and the creative economy as powerful engines for development, job creation and social cohesion.
We will continue to prioritize culture as both an economic asset and a tool for African identity, unity, and global influence. We remain firmly committed to supporting policies and frameworks that strengthen intellectual property rights, ensure fair remuneration for creators, and allow industry professionals to own, control, and monetize their creative outputs across the value chain.
On investment and infrastructure, Mr. Mark Smithson, Country Director, Department for Business and Trade at the British Deputy High Commission, Lagos said Africa must first look inward for solutions and funding.
“African problems needed to be solved by African solutions, with the support of the international community,” he said.
Quoting report by the African Finance Corporation, Smithson noted that Africa has huge capital potential. “There is about 1.1 trillion dollars of institutional capital on the continent that can be leverage through pension funds to support digital and physical infrastructure,” he explained.
He stressed that strong domestic investment will attract more international confidence and partnerships.
The role of media and local structure also featured Lucy Iladoh said. African growth must reflect African realities.
“Nollywood grew because of the locals. They found formula that fits the Nigerian context,” she said.
She warned against copying foreign systems without adoption. “We cannot reinvent the wheel, but can copy and paste” Iladoh noted.
She also advocated for a unified African streaming platform. ” It is possible to have an African streaming platform that caters for African Continent and pays artistes well,” she said. Adding that the government’s role is to create structures that enable creatives to earn, not to hand out money.
Technology, especially artificial intelligence, was another major focus at the summit, where Congolese music star Innos’ shared his experience with the application of AI in music creation and promotion. Technology, he said is helping a lot in terms of creativity.
“I was part of a project where the entire music video was done with AI. Nobody went to school to shoot video, yet the connection with audience was massive,” Innos’ B explained.
He added, “To me, AI is the next big thing – it is not something we should run from. It is something we should use, and it is getting better in how we communicate with the public.”
On collaboration across Africa, Ivorian artistes, Didi B called for stronger unity between Anglophone and Francophone artistes. “To be heard all over the world, we must first be united in Africa,” he said.
He noted that there is still limited collaboration across language lines and urged African artistes to work together more intentionally.
Discussions on Copyright and regulation also highlighted the need for cooperation among African governments industry stakeholders agreed that harmonized copyright systems are necessary to protect creatives and ensure fair earnings across borders.
The Lagos State Government also restated its support for the creative sector. The Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs. Toke Benson – Awoyinka, described Lagos as Africa’s cultural capital and said the State invested N8.4 billion in creative industries in 20025.
She said the government is committed to creating an enabling environment for collaboration, training and global competitiveness, other industries voices, including producers ID Cabasa and Olisa Adibua urged Artistes to treat music as a career, embrace learning and originality, and not fear for future.
