Who won and who lost in 2025?
🚨 In this final 2025 edition of HUSTLE & FLOW, I break down the 10 structural shifts that actually mattered this year in media, music, fashion, sports and the creator economy.
If you work or invest in Africa’s creative or sports sectors, this is your reality check before 2026:
who gained leverage,
who lost it,
where money is flowing,
and what strategies make sense going forward.
🧐 Let me be clear: this is the ONE piece of writing you should read to understand where the industry stands today.
As usual, I’d love to hear from you so please like, share, subscribe, comment, or all of the above.
🎅🏿 Happy holidays to all 🎄
THE YEAR IN REVIEW: THE 10 BIG TRENDS OF 2025
1️⃣🤖The Mainstreaming of AI - but not yet in Africa
In 2025, AI stopped being a (simultaneously) fun and scary tool to play around with and became an integral part of the creative production stack.
And the industry finally admitted it: Netflix publicly acknowledged using AI in parts of its workflow, AI-assisted films started showing face at festivals, and the Academy of Motion Pictures even announced that yes, machine-assisted films could win Oscars.
Meanwhile, an AI-generated band got 1 million streams on Spotify, and H&M signed with 30 models to use their digital twins for social media ads.
In fact, social media platforms such as YouTube have been so flooded by AI slop that they were forced to change their algorithms to demonetize it. Linkedin (my own creative outlet) is not immune -- in the sea of copy-paste ChatGPT content, spelling mistakes and bad grammar have become a gauge of authenticity.
The disruption isn’t abstract: whole service layers (subtitling, dubbing, photography, graphic design, basic animation, VFX, mood boards, trailers) are being compressed or wiped out, leading The Ankler to state: “Hollywood’s AI-era Jobs Collapse is Starting”.
In Africa, most creatives and old-school funders are still pretending this is not happening, or that we have time. I wrote about the urgent need for the continent’s creatives to wake up back in April. In the 8 months since then, progress has been slow, niche, and personality-driven.
Senegal stands out. Filmmaker Hussein Dembel Sow has been a leading voice on the artistic, ethical, commercial and technical aspects of AI use in the African creative space, while Senegalese AI music mastering startup Senmixmaster just raised money from Platform Capital.
Nigeria held its first AI Film Festival and released its first AI-themed movie, but these events remained marginal relative to the scale of Nollywood.
Elsewhere, AI is still mostly used as a curiosity to make fun trailers, posters, or TikTok effects rather than as a systemic productivity lever inside studios, agencies, fashion houses or music businesses. And that’s the problem.
AI could enable African creatives to bridge the resource gap and compete globally on the strength of their ideas. But if they miss that bullet train, they could also be left behind.
In the past few months, I found myself with three different Google executives at various conferences, and I pleaded with them to make Google’s Nano Banana Pro available for free to African creatives - just like they offered free access to Gemini AI Pro tools to university students. It sounded like it was the first time they had heard of that idea - let’s hope that it makes its way.
2️⃣📺 The Great Media Consolidation
The media industry went through several waves of consolidation in the past decades. But 2025 will be remembered as the year traditional media and streaming became one.
In Africa, the Canal+MultiChoice merger changed the media map overnight, creating a pan-African giant that now controls premium pay-TV, a large share of sports rights, and Africa’s biggest homegrown streamer, Showmax.
In the US, Netflix’s recently-announced move to absorb Warner Bros. Discovery sends the same message but in a different accent: scale is no longer optional.
The transition to streaming has been brutally expensive for the industry as a whole, structurally loss-making for many, and lethal to mid-sized operators who can’t amortize content, tech and marketing costs across massive subscriber bases.
So these deals aren’t just empire-building or ego. Consolidation is the market’s way of deciding who gets to keep playing capitalism’s game -- the survival of the fittest.
For African filmmakers and producers, however, it’s hard to spin this as good news. Fewer buyers means fewer commissioning editors and fewer doors to knock on.
Yes, a stronger pan-African champion could mean more stable demand for local content, and more money for prestige projects. This week, Canal+ unveiled its 2026 slate, which includes the film “Heist of Benin”, directed by Ava DuVernay and starring David Oyelowo. The group has also pledged to boost the international circulation of South African series “Shaka iLembe” and “Spinners”.
But history suggests that consolidation usually leads to tighter budgets, more risk aversion, less options, and more dependency for providers and suppliers. It was clearly the mood on the ground as I strolled the carpeted booths of MIP Africa in Cape Town this September. Whatever way we look at it, the African content market has contracted.
Which leads me too…
3️⃣🔩 The Content Distribution Choke Point
Africa’s content distribution problem isn’t new, but in 2025 and in the context of the Great Media Consolidation, it’s become impossible to ignore.
The issue isn’t talent, volume, ambition or even money anymore: there are just not enough pipes. Not enough cinemas, not enough local broadcasters or telcos that pay. International buyers are prioritizing their home markets, and Netflix’s newly constrained licensing budget can’t save us all.
The result is that, without enough offtakers to build a distribution strategy on, return on investment remains a fantasy that no serious financier will entertain.
This state of affairs has recently reignited the well-worn trope that “Africa should build its own Netflix”.
In a series of 3 recent posts that got Linkedin talking, I dug deep into this issue:
First, I explained why the idea of developing local streaming platforms “a la Netflix” is naive and lazy thinking. It ignores economics (fragmented markets, high capex, low ARPUs), consumer behavior (the leading platform is YouTube and it’s free), infrastructure, and well-documented case studies.
Then, I analyzed other Emerging Market streaming “winners” to identify the factors of success - just to reinforce my point that if you’re hoping to make it big by building an African platform without must-have sports rights, a very deep, exclusive local IP catalogue, and a telco or broadcaster parent willing to underwrite losses for 5-10 years, you and your banker are in for a lot of disappointment.
Finally, I tackled the real question: which distribution solutions make economic sense given Africa’s actual context and situation? I outlined several ideas:
a pan-African rights and metadata exchange addressing the missing infrastructure layer;
an AdTech solution to onboard African SMEs into digital advertising, that would expand the African advertising pool and unlock ad-supported distribution models;
scaled networks of community cinemas;
and niche platforms (keeping expectations modest).
If I had more space, I would have added the role governments can play by supporting the establishment of strong national broadcasters with the mandate to invest in local content.
We can improve African distribution, as long as we stop telling ourselves stories and focus our efforts in the right direction.
4️⃣🤳🏾 The Creators’ TakeOver
As traditional film and TV struggle globally, the creator economy is doing the opposite: it’s thriving.
In 2025, MrBeast is running a vertically integrated media empire with retail, gaming and global distribution; Dhar Mann built a billion-view factory outside Hollywood; and major studios and streamers are cutting first-look deals with YouTubers, TikTokers and podcasters.
The signal is clear: in the US in particular, audiences haven’t disappeared, they’ve migrated, and the economics have followed them. Creators who own their relationship with fans, their data and their formats are now more bankable than many mid-budget film and TV projects.
Africa is starting to see the same dynamic play out - at its own scale, but with real money involved.
Omoni Oboli and Ruth Kadiri have quietly built powerful YouTube distribution machines, bypassing traditional broadcasters entirely. Several Nigerian skitmakers like Mark Angel, Emmanuella, Taaooma, Broda Shaggi, Kie Kie, or Mr Macaroni, are now making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, and in some cases even millions, through a mix of platform payouts, brand deals and live appearances.
These are still outliers, not the norm, but they matter because they prove it’s possible. What’s missing, of course, is structure. The ecosystem remains messy, informal and poorly intermediated. Two structural issues stand out:
First, unequal platform access: monetization features that are standard elsewhere are still unavailable or restricted in many African countries, often because of fraud, perception of low volumes, or the complexity involved with enabling local payments.
Second, premature taxation by short-sighted governments risks killing the golden goose before it lays enough eggs. A couple of months ago Twitch suspended monetization in Kenya after the passing of the new Finance Bill, and similar reforms in Nigeria are also coming after creators’ previously overlooked income.
There is a need for organized advocacy to clear the path for the explosion of Africa’s Creator Economy. That’s why I have partnered with the African Creators Summit, Africa’s top Creators event, to host a dedicated Business Day on January 30th 2026, focused on identifying practical solutions.
Attendance is limited and invitation-only, but if you are a professional and have something to contribute to the conversation, message me and I’ll see what I can do 😎
5️⃣🎵 The Still Untapped African Music Market
African music remained one of the fastest-growing music markets in the world in 2025, both culturally and commercially - just not where it should matter most.
This year, CKay joined Rema, Wizkid, Tems, and Tyla in Spotify’s 1 Billion Club, African artists continued to sell out arenas across Europe and North America, and Afrobeats, Amapiano and Afro-fusion became permanent fixtures of global pop culture.
On the surface, it looks like a success story. Underneath, the economics are badly skewed. The bulk of recorded-music revenue tied to African artists is still generated outside the continent, monetized through foreign platforms, touring circuits, promoters and labels.
When IFPI announced that Sub-Saharan Africa’s music revenue reached $110 million in 2024, this was celebrated as a milestone. But the truth is, it’s a minuscule number. Given population size, consumption levels and the cultural centrality of music, Africa’s music revenue should be closer to $1 billion.
Why the gap? Well, money is leaking everywhere on the continent: persistent piracy, broken metadata, weak copyright collection, fragmented CMOs, limited platform penetration, and a chronic shortage of compliant, scalable physical venues. Africans listen obsessively to music, but the system fails to capture that value locally.
This year, at gatherings such as the Dakar Music Expo, Global Citizen’s Music Economy Development Initiative (MEDI) in Lagos, and FAME Week in Cape Town, my interactions with music professionals all centered around this issue.
That’s why, for investors the real opportunity is not “the next artist”, but infrastructure.
On the digital side, companies like Makerverse (in which I am an angel and advisor) are tackling the critical layers: rights management, distribution, data, payments, and transparency. On the physical side, players such as AfroNation, Masai Ujiri’s Zaria Court, HustleSasa (I’m also an angel and advisor), or Tix Africa, and a growing ecosystem of promoters, venue operators and touring platforms are rebuilding the live-music economy city by city.
Music is one of the continent’s biggest investment opportunities, but it’s also one of the hardest -- tourists or hype capital beware.
6️⃣🛒 The Cross-border Commerce Push & Pull
2025 delivered a series of cross-border commerce shocks that hit African companies selling physical goods - especially fashion and design - square in the face.
A year ago, I wrote about Temu entering Nigeria (soon after South Africa) and the threat that this represented for the local fashion and design industries. Fashion entrepreneurs in Nigeria tell me they are not worried because they don’t target the same customers, but in South Africa, Shein and Temu now command an enormous 37.1% share of the digital clothing, textile, footwear and leather market. The South African government is now pushing back - better late than never.
The second shock was the fear and confusion created by Trump’s tariff policy, and the lingering uncertainty around the future of AGOA (treaty providing duty-free access to the US for select African countries) until it was finally renewed for 3 years last week. The impact was felt on the ground: Hundreds of thousands of jobs in garment factories are at risk or already lost in countries like Lesotho, Kenya, and Madagascar.
Then, ecommerce marketplace Etsy abandoned PayPal in favor of its own payment system, effectively locking out thousands of African small sellers from a key sales channel.
Suddenly, access to the US market, which was long positioned as a growth lever for African fashion and design, looks a lot more fraught.
Overlay all of this with persistent inflation, and selling internationally in 2025 became more expensive and more uncertain for small African creative businesses.
And yet, here’s the contradiction: global appetite for African design has not slowed. The BBC story on American teenagers buying their prom dresses from Nigeria captured the cultural pull. Fashion pop ups are booming from Johannesburg to Cotonou, London and New York. Lagos Fashion Week winning the $1m Earthshot Prize underscored African fashion’s role in sustainability and innovation. Dakar Fashion Week literally staging a runway on water was a masterclass in storytelling and ambition.
For African fashion and design businesses, 2025 made one thing painfully clear: trade policy, platforms, payments and logistics now matter just as much as taste.
7️⃣🏀 All Eyes on African Sports
2025 saw a surge of serious activity in African sports, with capital, leagues and formats converging on the continent at once.
Helios Sports & Entertainment Group’s (HSEG) $50m raise from IFC and Proparco crystallized institutional confidence, and was quickly followed by the high-profile launch of PFL Africa.
The BAL continued to professionalise operations and opened the door to franchises, a pivotal (and risky) shift toward long-term asset building. The NFL doubled down on the continent with flag football programs, academies, and commercial partnerships. This strategy showed results in 2025, with 8 African athletes (out of 13) joining its elite International Players Pathway class of 2026.
Add the first E1 electric powerboat race in Lagos, credible talks around F1 in South Africa, Rwanda and Morocco, and AFCON on the doorstep, and the direction of travel is unmistakable.
What ties this together is a dual thesis: Africa as a growth market (young audiences, urbanization, mobile distribution) and as a prime talent pool. Global leagues are looking to lock in early, before rights, sponsorships and formats price them out.
But this is also where optimism meets reality. African sports is a notorious minefield: politicized federations, opaque governance, inflated projections, and no shortage of opportunists selling dreams to unsuspecting investors.
Which makes the next phase critical. Outcomes will depend on professional operators who can structure deals, enforce governance, and create credible pathways toward durable revenues.
8️⃣💰 The Slow Start of Capital Deployment
A handful of notable investments in the creative industries did get over the line in 2025: among them are Africori (fully acquired by Warner Music), HSEG (IFC and Proparco), Filmmakers Mart (IFC and Sony), Twiva (Sony), Muzikin (Digital Africa), Maraz (not announced), Vanhu Vamwe and The Rad Black Kids (Silverback Holdings), Senmixmaster (Platform Capital), and probably others that didn’t get on my radar. These deals matter, but they are still exceptions, not a functioning market yet.
But the more important shift in 2025 was conceptual: the investment world finally made peace with the fact that the VC model does not work for most creative businesses, which are often SMEs that are profitable but with slow scalability, asset-heavy operations, and irregular cash flows. This is no longer controversial.
Vehicles like HSEG and Silverback Holdings explicitly positioning themselves as permanent capital platforms reflect a growing consensus that creatives need longer time horizons, flexible return profiles, and capital that understands IP, rights and cycles.
This month, the partnership between HEVA Fund and NCBA Bank in Kenya represents a genuine milestone. The two financial institutions have come together to offer financing products specifically designed for creatives, such as event financing, invoice discounting, LPO financing, working capital support, and start-up incubator financing. That model is replicable, and it matters far more than another flashy fund announcement.
So why is capital still not flowing fast enough? Because the bottleneck is not actually money (I’ve said time and again that there’s plenty of cash sitting around), it’s company readiness. Too many creative businesses (including some big names you know and admire) remain informal, poorly structured, and financially illiterate, making them unbankable and uninvestable regardless of intent. This issue came up clearly this year during my pipeline-building and matchmaking work for Proparco’s CREA Fund.
Strengthening balance sheets, governance, cash-flow management and strategic clarity is the unglamorous hands-on work the ecosystem keeps postponing. This is precisely where the next phase must focus, and it’s where I’m personally doubling down in 2026. Without stronger companies, no amount of capital innovation will unlock the scale everyone keeps talking about.
9️⃣🏗 The quiet rise of infrastructure-first thinking
2025 marked a subtle but decisive shift in the African creative economy: the centre of gravity moved away from content and towards infrastructure.
After years of betting on “the next hit”, the ecosystem is finally acknowledging what operators and investors have learned the hard way: creativity cannot scale without systems.
This is the logic behind what I described as the rise of Creative SaaS: platforms and tools focused on the unglamorous plumbing of the creative industries - rights management, payments, data analytics, distribution, compliance, logistics, workflow and monetization.
You see it everywhere once you look for it. First, in the new crop of CreaTech, with companies like Filmmakers Mart, Selar, Makerverse, Twiva, Wowzi, Trendrz, Stylebitt, TFB Studios, BeautyHut, The Folklore, Hustle Sasa, Tix Africa, or Fusion Intelligence.
But even HSEG is fundamentally an infrastructure bet on leagues, venues, IP and long-term asset management.
This shift matters because it signals maturity and a hard lesson learned. Infrastructure grows slowly, requires patience, and may not get you VIP tickets to movie premieres. But without it, the creative economy won’t be able to build sustainable value.
2025 didn’t solve Africa’s creative infrastructure gap, but it did mark the moment when the ecosystem stopped pretending it could leapfrog it.
🔟🌍 The Widening gap between Global cultural relevance and Local value capture
I’ve hinted at this issue earlier when talking about music and fashion, but it deserves its own spotlight.
In 2025, this paradox was impossible to ignore: Africa’s cultural influence has never been stronger, yet its ability to capture value locally remains painfully weak.
This leaves stakeholders with two very different, very pragmatic paths:
If you’re a creative entrepreneur or a private investor, you need a diaspora-first strategy. That’s where purchasing power, stable payments, reliable distribution and scalable audiences exist today. Ignoring the diaspora in the name of “local pride” is bad business. This is where tours make sense, where streaming pays, where brands have budgets, and where exits are actually possible. The mistake is pretending otherwise.
If you’re a government, DFI or public institution, your role is different, and more urgent. Your job is not to chase hits, talent or prestige projects (let the professionals handle that abeg), but to finance local creative infrastructure so value can eventually be captured on the continent itself. Cinemas and national broadcasters, multi-purpose venues and sports infrastructure, data centres, broadband, and payments rails, education and skills platforms. These are the investments that will move the needle for the largest number of people. Until this foundation exists at scale, Africa will keep exporting culture and importing revenue models.
I’ve been long, I guess I had a lot to say.
I’m out 🫳🎤