African creators face low earnings, piracy, and payment barriers despite new funding

Monetization gaps in Africa’s creator economy

A panel at Moonshot by TechCabal examined the obstacles African creators face in turning attention into income. Over half of Nigerian creators—56.45%—earn less than $100 monthly, while just 3.23% make more than $5,000, according to data cited during the discussion. This disparity highlights the difficulty of scaling revenue in the region’s digital content landscape.

Kene Okwuosa, founder and group CEO of Filmhouse Group, and Darey Art Alade, co-founder and chief creative officer of Livespot360, emphasized the role of collaboration in penetrating foreign markets, particularly in film. They argued that better-quality productions could attract international audiences, but policy and legislation are needed to facilitate these partnerships.

Piracy and platform shifts

Piracy remains a significant drain on Nollywood, with MultiChoice estimating annual losses between ₦10 billion and ₦15 billion. Meanwhile, platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime have reduced spending on African content, pushing more filmmakers toward YouTube for distribution and revenue.

Despite these challenges, Nigerian artists received over ₦58 billion from Spotify in 2024, a 146% increase from the previous year. Meta also enabled ads on Reels for creators in Nigeria and Ghana in 2024, offering new revenue streams.

Funding and infrastructure gaps

Kopano Cowen, CEO of Connect Channel, highlighted the need for better infrastructure to support creators, including cross-border payments and distribution networks. Richard Oyome, co-founder and COO of Raenest, shared that the company has processed over $1 billion for 700,000 customers after raising $11 million in a Series A round in February 2025. This reflects growing efforts to address payment barriers in the region.

Public-private partnerships are also emerging. Afreximbank committed $200 million to Nigeria’s Creative Economy Development Fund, signaling institutional support for the sector’s growth.

What this means

Lazyfounder analysis — our interpretation, not reported fact.

The panel’s findings underscore the dual challenge of scaling revenue and protecting intellectual property in Africa’s creator economy. For founders and operators, this signals opportunities in fintech, content distribution, and anti-piracy solutions. Raenest’s $11 million raise and Afreximbank’s $200 million fund demonstrate investor confidence in addressing these gaps, but the low earnings for most creators suggest significant unmet demand.

Related on Lazyfounder

• Raenest
• Filmhouse Group
• Livespot360
• Connect Channel
• African creator economy hampered by distribution and payment gaps, say Filmhouse, Raenest