{"id":114351,"date":"2026-02-06T14:28:46","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T14:28:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=114351"},"modified":"2026-02-06T14:28:46","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T14:28:46","slug":"mr-eazi-calls-for-borderless-africa-to-unlock-growth-for-youth-and-smes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=114351","title":{"rendered":"Mr Eazi calls for borderless Africa to unlock growth for youth and SMEs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nigerian singer and entrepreneur Oluwatosin Oluwole Ajibade, popularly known as Mr Eazi, has urged African leaders and institutions to remove barriers that limit trade, movement, and innovation across the continent.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the 2026 Africa Prosperity Dialogue, held under the theme \u201cEmpowering SMEs, Women and Youth in Africa\u2019s Single Market: Innovate, Collaborate, Trade\u201d, Mr Eazi said Africa must move from ideas to action if it is to fully benefit from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).<\/p>\n

Drawing from his experience as a businessman, he said he has spent the last four years of his career focusing on solving problems that make it difficult for Africans to do business across borders.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the last four years of my career, I\u2019ve spent that as an entrepreneur solving the problem that exists, solving the frictional issue that exists as the roadblock in making Africa borderless,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Eazi revealed that he has invested in businesses operating in 19 African countries, including a company he described as one of his proudest achievements.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of which I\u2019m really proud of is a company that is live in 19 African countries and processes 4 million transactions a day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He explained that borders, as they currently operate, create serious challenges for Africans trying to move goods, make payments and comply with regulations.<\/p>\n

\u201cBorders as they currently function create friction in movements, in payments, in regulation and in the abilities of small and medium scale enterprises to scale,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

According to him, these challenges affect young people the most, including artists, creators, influencers, women and small business owners who want to improve their lives and contribute to Africa\u2019s development.<\/p>\n

He noted, however, that Africans have always found ways to work together across borders, even before colonial rule.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfrican cross-border collaboration in economics has started pre-colonialism and has continued even today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Eazi said that young Africans, especially those under the age of 35, are less concerned about borders and are already collaborating through technology, business, and creativity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe young people under the age of 35, we actually don\u2019t care about borders,\u201d he said. \u201cWe do this via collaboration, via the internet, via cross-border collaboration in business and in creativity.\u201d<\/p>\n

He described the idea of a borderless Africa as one that has moved from philosophy to necessity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea of a borderless Africa began as Pan-African philosophy, but today, through regional blocs and the AfCFTA, it has become an economic necessity and an emerging reality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Eazi pointed out that while agreements and frameworks are already in place, the real challenge lies in implementation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat remains is the important work of implementation,\u201d he said, adding that making Africa borderless does not mean weakening national sovereignty.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe 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,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

He said a more connected Africa would help small businesses grow into continental champions, using his own companies as an example.<\/p>\n

\u201cA more connected Africa is how SMEs grow into continental champions. That is how my companies have grown, starting from one African country to existing in 19 countries and counting.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to him, stronger integration will also allow women and youth to fully participate in the single market and improve Africa\u2019s position in the global economy.<\/p>\n

Calling for unity in action, Mr Eazi said Africans must work together to remove legal barriers holding the continent back. \u201cWhen Africa moves together, we do not lose strength. We multiply it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He highlighted the economic potential of the AfCFTA, describing it as one of the largest free trade areas in the world, bringing together countries with a combined GDP of over $3 trillion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we make Africa borderless, Africa becomes unstoppable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Eazi announced a new music collaboration with a Ghanaian artist, describing it as an example of Pan-African cooperation.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday I just released a new song with a Ghanaian artist,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s called That Way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMake Africa borderless now.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Nigerian singer and entrepreneur Oluwatosin Oluwole Ajibade, popularly known as Mr Eazi, has urged African leaders and institutions to remove barriers that limit trade, movement, and innovation across the continent.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1972,16513,16514,1883,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-africa","category-borderless","category-mr-eazi","category-national","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=114351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114351\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=114351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=114351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=114351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}