Afrobeats singer Oluwatosin Ajibade, popularly known as Mr Eazi, has said that at the beginning of his music career, it was less stressful to organise shows in Europe and the United States than across African countries.

He made this known on Friday while speaking at the 2026 Africa Prosperity Dialogue themed “Empowering SMEs, Women and Youth in Africa’s Single Market: Innovate, Collaborate, Trade,” as reported by Joy News.

The artiste reflected on his decade-long journey in both entertainment and entrepreneurship.

“Speaking as a young entrepreneur and creative, the biggest problem we faced in Africa is friction, 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.

According to him, moving between African countries for performances came with more obstacles than touring Western nations during his early breakthrough period.

“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.”

Mr Eazi narrated how he once faced difficulties at the Kenyan border despite having a paid engagement.

“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.

“My band, which included members of other nationalities, were allowed to enter, but I — the lead artist who was being paid the most — had to wait,” he added.

He said such experiences show the larger problem of restrictions affecting movement across the continent.

“That incident speaks to the reality of the friction that is being put in place — friction that stops us from uniting, stops us from being stronger, and prevents us from developing,” he said.

Speaking further, the ‘Leg Over’ crooner stressed the need for proper execution of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement.

“Borders as they currently function create friction in movements, in payments, in regulation and in the abilities of small and medium-scale enterprises to scale,” he said.

Drawing from his business portfolio, Mr Eazi revealed that he has funded companies operating in 19 African countries.

“One of which I’m really proud of is a company that is live in 19 African countries and processes four million transactions a day,” he said.

He also noted that rigid border systems impact young Africans the most.

“The young people under the age of 35, we actually don’t care about borders,” he said, adding that collaboration now happens “via the internet, via cross-border collaboration in business and in creativity.”

While acknowledging that policy structures such as AfCFTA are already in place, he insisted that real progress depends on action. “What remains is the important work of implementation,” he said.

He clarified that improving cross border cooperation does not mean weakening national authority.

“We are not speaking about removing nations or weakening sovereignty. We are speaking of enabling the commitments already made and allowing people to move, trade, and build within Africa more efficiently, securely, and lawfully,” he said.

Mr Eazi added that stronger regional integration would help African businesses grow beyond their local markets.

“A more connected Africa is how SMEs grow into continental champions,” he said.

He urged African leaders and stakeholders to dismantle long standing barriers that limit collaboration.

“When Africa moves together, we do not lose strength. We multiply it.,” he said.