Why African Artists Find It Easier to Tour the West Than Their Own Continent: Mr. Eazi’s Border Challenge

Introduction: The Unsettling Paradox of an African Superstar

In a stark revelation that cuts to the heart of continental integration, globally acclaimed Nigerian musician and entrepreneur Mr. Eazi (Oluwatosin Ajibade) has articulated a frustrating reality experienced by countless African creatives: it is often administratively simpler and less obstructive to tour Europe or North America than to navigate the borders within Africa itself. Speaking at the prestigious 2026 Africa Prosperity Dialogue, Mr. Eazi used his decade-long journey from rising star to international business figure to spotlight a critical barrier stifling the continent’s cultural and economic potential. His personal anecdote—being detained at a Kenyan border while his multinational band was allowed entry, despite having the continent’s biggest hit—transcends a mere travel nightmare. It symbolizes a systemic friction that actively works against pan-African unity, the free flow of cultural capital, and the monetization of Africa’s vast creative talent. This article delves into the specific border challenges for African artists, analyzes their profound implications, and explores pathways toward a more integrated and prosperous creative ecosystem across the continent.

Key Points: The Core Challenges Outlined by Mr. Eazi

Mr. Eazi’s testimony crystallizes several interlinked issues that create a hostile environment for intra-Africa touring by creative professionals:

• The Bureaucratic Hurdle Paradox: Despite achieving the highest levels of continental success (e.g., holding the #1 song in Africa), artists face more significant visa, work permit, and customs obstacles touring African nations than they do in Western markets with more established, albeit stringent, processes for foreign artists.
• Inconsistent and Opaque Regulations: Border officials often lack clarity on protocols for artists on temporary work assignments, leading to arbitrary detentions, demands for bribes, or denial of entry, even with proof of paid engagements.
• The “Lead Artist” Target: There is a perverse trend where the principal, highest-earning artist faces the strictest scrutiny, while supporting crew or band members from other nationalities may pass through more easily, as seen in his Kenya experience.
• Economic Friction: These barriers directly translate to lost revenue for artists, promoters, and local economies (venues, hotels, tourism) from canceled or delayed shows, and increase operational costs through legal fees and “grease payments.”
• Cultural and Unitary Impact: The difficulty of touring suppresses cultural exchange, weakens the development of a cohesive pan-African pop culture market, and undermines the soft power and narrative of an “Africa rising” and united.

Background: The African Creative Economy and the Promise of Seamless Movement

A Continent Rich in Talent, Poor in Intra-Connectivity

Africa’s creative and cultural industries (CCIs) are widely recognized as a frontier for economic growth, youth employment, and global cultural influence. From Afrobeats to Amapiano, African music streams billions of times globally. The African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) explicitly identify the creative economy as a key sector for diversification. A foundational pillar of the AfCFTA is the eventual establishment of a Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) and the protocol on the free movement of persons, which aims to abolish visa requirements for African nationals. However, the implementation gap between these lofty goals and on-the-ground reality remains vast, particularly for non-standard workers like touring artists.

Historical Context: Borders as Legacy, Not Necessity

Modern African borders are largely a colonial artifact, designed for resource extraction and administrative control, not for the fluid movement of people, goods, or ideas. Post-independence, many states retained these restrictive border controls, often citing security, economic protectionism, or immigration concerns. For an itinerant creative worker whose “tool” is their talent and whose “workplace” is a stage in a different country every few days, these rigid, poorly harmonized entry requirements are a direct impediment to their profession. Unlike a businessperson with a formal letter of invitation or a diplomat with clear credentials, an artist’s purpose can be misunderstood or deemed “informal” by border officials.

Analysis: Deconstructing the Barriers and Their Cascading Effects

The Specific Hurdles: From Visas to Carnets

Mr. Eazi’s experience points to a spectrum of challenges:

• Visa On Arrival (VoA) Inconsistencies: While some African nations offer VoA to fellow Africans, the list is shrinking, and eligibility is often arbitrary. An artist may be told VoA is available at one airport but denied at another, or the fee may be exorbitant and non-standardized.
• Work Permit Ambiguity: Most countries require a work permit for paid performances. The process is often lengthy, expensive, and requires local sponsorship. For a tour hitting 5-10 countries in two weeks, securing multiple permits is a logistical and financial nightmare.
• Customs and Equipment: Touring requires importing musical instruments, sound equipment, and merchandise. The Carnet (A.T.A. Carnet) system, an international customs document that allows temporary duty-free import, is not uniformly recognized or understood by African customs officials, leading to demands for prohibitive bonds or duties.
• Lack of Industry-Specific Protocols: There is no continent-wide “performing artist visa” or streamlined protocol under the AfCFTA for temporary entry. Each nation’s immigration and labor laws apply, creating a patchwork of conflicting requirements.

Economic Impact: Quantifying the Cost of Friction

The barriers have a direct, negative economic impact:

• Revenue Loss: A single canceled show due to border denial can cost tens of thousands of dollars in ticket refunds, venue fees, and associated expenses. Promoters become risk-averse, avoiding pan-African tours.
• Tourism Leakage: International touring artists and their teams are high-value tourists. Their inability to move freely means local economies miss out on spending on accommodation, dining, and transport.
• Market Fragmentation: Instead of a single, large African market for live music, we have 54 fragmented, small markets. This prevents scale, keeps ticket prices high, and limits artist earnings.
• Informal “Solutions” and Corruption: The complexity breeds a culture of bribery (“facilitation fees”) at borders, which is unpredictable, unethical, and a hidden tax on the creative economy.

Cultural and Soft Power Consequences

Beyond economics, the friction erodes cultural solidarity. The vibrant cross-pollination that birthed genres like Afrobeats (a fusion of West African rhythms with global sounds) is hampered when artists cannot easily collaborate and tour together. It sends a message of disunity to the world, contradicting the “Africa is one” narrative promoted in diplomacy and branding. Younger fans in Nairobi may love a hit from Lagos, but if that artist cannot perform there, the connection remains virtual, not experiential, weakening the formation of a truly pan-African youth culture.

Practical Advice: Navigating and Challenging the System

For African creatives and industry stakeholders, the current reality demands proactive strategies:

For Artists and Managers:

• Start Documentation Early: Begin visa and permit applications months in advance. Maintain immaculate documentation: signed contracts, proof of payment (or payment guarantees), detailed itineraries, and equipment lists.
• Use Professional Tour Bookers: Engage local promoters or visa specialists in each target country who understand the specific bureaucratic landscape and have existing relationships with authorities.
• Secure a Carnet: For any tour involving equipment, obtain an A.T.A. Carnet from the national Chamber of Commerce well in advance. Carry a copy of the carnet and a detailed inventory.
• Diplomatic Channels: If facing detention, calmly request to speak to a senior immigration officer and present all paperwork. Contact your home country’s embassy or consulate in the region for assistance. Having a local promoter’s contact who can vouch for you is invaluable.
• Document and Report: Systematically document all border incidents (officer names, badge numbers, reasons given). Report systemic issues to industry bodies like the African Music Council (AMC) or national copyright collectives, which can aggregate data for advocacy.

For Industry Associations and Collectives:

• Advocate for a “Creative Visa”: Lobby the African Union, AfCFTA Secretariat, and national governments to establish a special, streamlined visa category for “Itinerant Artists and Cultural Professionals” with clear, harmonized criteria.
• Create a Pan-African “Green List”: Develop a registry of vetted, professional artists and companies that could facilitate faster processing, similar to trusted traveler programs.
• Build a Legal Resource Hub: Provide members with up-to-date guides on visa requirements, work permit laws, and customs procedures for each African nation.
• Engage Policymakers: Use platforms like the Africa Prosperity Dialogue to present data-driven cases on the economic losses due to border friction, quantifying the potential GDP and job creation from a frictionless creative market.

For Policymakers and Government Agencies:

• Implement AfCFTA Protocols Faithfully: Fast-track the ratification and domestic implementation of the AfCFTA Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, specifically including provisions for temporary entry of businesspersons and service providers, explicitly covering artists.
• Train Border Officials: Conduct mandatory, regular training for immigration and customs officers on the legal status of touring artists under national law and regional agreements. Include modules on recognizing genuine cultural events and contracts.
• Harmonize Definitions: Agree on continent-wide definitions for “short-term work,” “artistic performance,” and “professional equipment” to eliminate ambiguity.
• Develop Digital Systems: Introduce unified, online visa application and approval systems for regional categories, reducing human discretion and potential for corruption at the border.
• Establish One-Stop-Shops: At major ports of entry, create desks staffed by officers trained in cultural sector protocols to handle artist arrivals efficiently.

FAQ: Addressing Common Questions

Is it really harder to tour Africa than Europe or the US?

For many African artists, yes, in terms of predictability and bureaucratic consistency. Western countries have well-defined, if strict, P-1/O-1 visa categories for entertainers. The process is transparent, criteria are clear, and once approved, entry is routine. In contrast, intra-Africa processes are often ad-hoc, dependent on the individual officer’s interpretation, and lack a standard continental framework, leading to greater uncertainty and higher risk of denial at the point of entry.

What is the AfCFTA doing about this?

The AfCFTA includes a Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons, which aims to grant visa-free entry for African citizens for stays up to 90 days. However, this is not yet fully implemented by all signatories. More specifically, the Protocol on Trade in Services covers the movement of “natural persons” for business purposes, which could encompass artists. The challenge is in the national-level implementation and the lack of a specific annex for cultural and creative services, which advocates are now pushing for.

Are there any success stories or countries with better systems?

Yes. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has a relatively effective freedom of movement regime for its citizens, which benefits artists from member states touring within West Africa. Countries like South Africa, despite its stringent general visa policies, has a specific “Cattle Egret” permit for foreign artists, showing that tailored solutions are possible. Rwanda has been a vocal champion for visa-free travel for Africans, creating a more welcoming environment for regional touring.

Does this only affect musicians, or all creatives?

It affects the entire cultural and creative value chain. This includes dancers, theatre troupes, filmmakers on location scouting or shooting, visual artists in residencies, fashion models, comedians, and even sportspeople and coaches. Any creative professional whose work requires temporary physical presence in another African nation faces similar, if not identical, hurdles.

What can fans and the public do to help?

Fans can amplify the issue by using social media to tag relevant ministries of interior, tourism, and culture when their favorite artists announce tour dates and face visa problems. They can support campaigns by industry groups like the African Music Council or Federation of African Film Producers (FEPACI). Public pressure, framed as a demand for a united,