Spotify expands to 40 more African countries

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Tom Gitaa
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New York City, April 3 2018 - Banner on the New York Stock Exchange celebrating the IPO of the streaming music service Spotify. On February 22, 2021, the company announced it will expand its streaming services to an additional 40 African countries. Photo: Christopher Penler/Shutterstock

The streaming platform Spotify, which until now has been available in only 5 African countries, is set to launch in 40 additional African countries including Kenya, Angola, Benin, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and more.

The Swedish audio streaming service is home to over 50 million songs and 2 million podcasts as of the time of this writing.

In total, the company announced it is expanding into a total of 85 new markets around the globe. The company made the announcement at its Stream On event for creators and partners.

“Having more listeners on our platform creates more opportunities for artists and podcasters to make a living from their work. And more creators means more audio content for our users to discover,” said Alex Norström, Spotify’s Chief Freemium Business Officer. “This creates an essential flywheel between creators and listeners that is the foundation of our business — and in the end, it is what will propel the audio industry forward.”

In the new markets it is launching, the company said it will make available its full global music catalog while the entire podcast catalog will be available in the majority of them.

“We will work with local creators and partners to expand our music offerings and deliver a Spotify experience that meets the unique needs of each market,” Spotify said.

Spotify reported 345 million total monthly listeners in the fourth quarter of 2020, a number that includes 155 million premium subscribers.

Author

  • Tom Gitaa

    Born and raised in Kenya's coastal city of Mombasa, Tom is the Founder, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of Mshale which has been reporting on the news and culture of African immigrants in the United States since 1995. He has a BA in Business from Metro State University and a Public Leadership Credential from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He was the original host of Talking Drum, the signature current affairs show on the African Broadcasting Network (ABN-America), which was available nationwide in the United States via the Dish Network satellite service. On the show, he interviewed Nobel laureates such as 2004 Nobel Peace prize winner, Professor Wangari Maathai, the first woman from Africa to win the peace prize and heads of states. Tom has served and chaired various boards including Global Minnesota (formerly Minnesota International Center), the sixth largest World Affairs Council in the United States. He has previously served as the first Black President of the Board of Directors at Books for Africa. He also serves on the boards of New Vision Foundation and the Minnesota Multicultural Media Consortium. He has previously served two terms on the board of the United Nations Association. An avid runner, he retired from running full marathons after turning 50 and now only focuses on training for half marathons.

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About Tom Gitaa Gitaa, Editor-in-Chief

Born and raised in Kenya's coastal city of Mombasa, Tom is the Founder, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of Mshale which has been reporting on the news and culture of African immigrants in the United States since 1995. He has a BA in Business from Metro State University and a Public Leadership Credential from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He was the original host of Talking Drum, the signature current affairs show on the African Broadcasting Network (ABN-America), which was available nationwide in the United States via the Dish Network satellite service. On the show, he interviewed Nobel laureates such as 2004 Nobel Peace prize winner, Professor Wangari Maathai, the first woman from Africa to win the peace prize and heads of states. Tom has served and chaired various boards including Global Minnesota (formerly Minnesota International Center), the sixth largest World Affairs Council in the United States. He has previously served as the first Black President of the Board of Directors at Books for Africa. He also serves on the boards of New Vision Foundation and the Minnesota Multicultural Media Consortium. He has previously served two terms on the board of the United Nations Association. An avid runner, he retired from running full marathons after turning 50 and now only focuses on training for half marathons.

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