Spotify is commemorating five years of operations in Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana, releasing figures that detail user behavior and platform growth since its 2021 entry into the three markets.
The streaming service launched in Sub-Saharan Africa in February 2021, beginning with Nigeria and later expanding to Kenya and Ghana.
Users across the three countries have generated 38.2 million playlists since launch. Nigeria accounts for 25 million of those playlists, followed by Kenya with 9.5 million and Ghana with 3.7 million.
The average listener age across the markets is 26 in Nigeria and Kenya, and 27 in Ghana. Spotify characterized its West and East African user base as a young, digitally native audience driving sustained engagement.
Spotify described the Nigerian user experience as borderless and discovery driven since launch. Average listening across the market has increased more than 163 percent year over year.
Nigerian users created more than 25 million playlists to date. In 2025 alone, Nigerian listeners accumulated over 1.4 billion hours of streaming time. The platform noted that users are engaging deeply with indigenous content including Afrobeats, gospel, and street pop.
The number of Nigerian artists distributing music on Spotify has grown 158 percent since 2021. Afrobeats streams increased 5,022 percent over the five year period.
Other genres also posted significant gains, including Amapiano with 10,330 percent growth, gospel and praise music with 5,499 percent, hip hop and rap with 3,020 percent, and R&B with 2,602 percent.
Streaming of music in Nigerian indigenous languages grew 554 percent in 2024 alone. Nigerian artists have added more than 900,000 tracks to the platform since launch. Podcast consumption in the market has exceeded 59 million streaming hours.
Year on year listening in Kenya has increased at an average annual rate of 68 percent through 2025, according to Spotify data. The figures indicate strong early momentum followed by continued expansion in overall streams.
Genre growth in Kenya between 2021 and 2025 shows Amapiano streams rising 1,404 percent, gospel and praise music increasing 1,103 percent, R&B growing 737 percent, Afrobeats climbing 680 percent, and hip hop and rap expanding 520 percent.
Listening to music in Kenyan indigenous languages increased more than 101 percent over the five year period.
Global consumption of Kenyan indigenous language music rose 128 percent in 2024, with year on year growth of 69 percent, suggesting rising international exposure for local language releases.
The number of Kenyan artists distributing on Spotify increased 112 percent since 2021. Kenyan listeners have created more than nine million user generated playlists.
In 2025, listening time in Kenya exceeded 203 million hours. Podcast consumption has surpassed 35 million hours since launch.
In the most recent month measured, the average Kenyan listener streamed music from 124 different artists, indicating broad discovery patterns. The average listener age of 26 points to a predominantly young and digitally engaged audience shaping local listening trends.
In other reports Nigerian artist Wizkid has become the first African artist to surpass 10 billion streams on Spotify, according to data from the platform current as of January 2026.
