Spotify to Launch in Nigeria, 39 Other African Countries in Latest Expansion Drive

Popular music streaming platform, Spotify is finally expanding to Nigeria and several other African countries. The company announced the expansion on Monday during its Stream On event for creators and partners.

The company revealed that it has plans to launch in 85 new markets across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean over the next few days. This is Spotify’s biggest concentrated market expansion to date.

Speaking on the expansion, Spotify’s chief freemium business officer, Alex Norström explained that having more listeners on the platform creates more opportunities for artists and podcasters to make a living from their work. And more creators means more audio content for users to discover.

Over 1 billion new listeners

Founded in July 2011, Spotify has grown significantly over the last 12 years to become one of the biggest streaming platforms in the world. It is currently available in 93 markets after it officially launched in South Korea on February 1.

Spotify first launched in Africa in 2018 with South Africa

The upcoming launch in Nigeria, Pakistan and 80+ countries represent more than 1 billion potential new listeners. This is a massive untapped audience for the company which has grown to have more than 345 million monthly active users and over 155 million paid subscribers globally.

In addition, Spotify now supports more than 60 languages after adding native support for 36 new languages.

Nigerians to enjoy Spotify free and Spotify premium

Spotify has announced that it will offer both its Free and Premium plans in all 85 new markets. However, Individual, Family, Duo, and Student plans will be available in only select markets.

Spotify currently offers more than 70 million individual tracks, including over 2 million podcast titles.

The company says that its global music catalogue will be available in all 85 markets, and its entire podcast catalogue will be available in the majority of them. It will also work with the local rights holders to add more local offerings.

As the platform rolls out, music lovers in new markets will get to access content on mobile apps and in the browser. Apps for TV, consoles, speakers, wearables, and cars will be launched in the “coming months”.

Here’s the full list of the African countries Spotify is launching in:

1. Angola
2. Benin
3. Botswana
4. Burkina Faso
5. Burundi
6. Cabo Verde
7. Cameroon
8. Chad
9. Comoros
10. Côte d’Ivoire
11. Djibouti
12. Equatorial Guinea
13. Eswatini
14. Gabon
15. The Gambia
16. Ghana
17. Guinea
18. Guinea-Bissau
19. Kenya
20. Lesotho
21. Liberia
22. Madagascar
23. Malawi
24. Mali
25. Mauritania
26. Mauritius
27. Mozambique
28. Namibia
29. Niger
30. Nigeria
31. Rwanda
32. Sao Tome and Principe
33. Senegal
34. Seychelles
35. Sierra Leone
36. Tanzania
37. Togo
38. Uganda
39. Zambia
40. Zimbabwe

Other countries include:

1. Antigua and Barbuda
2. Armenia
3. Azerbaijan
4. Bahamas
5. Bangladesh
6. Barbados
7. Belize
8. Bhutan
9. Brunei Darussalam
10. Cambodia
11. Curaçao
12. Dominica
13. Fiji
14. Georgia
15. Grenada
16. Guyana
17. Haiti
18. Jamaica
19. Kiribati
20. Kyrgyzstan
21. Lao People’s Democratic Republic
22. Macau
23. Maldives
24. Marshall Islands
25. Micronesia
26. Mongolia
27. Nauru
28. Nepal
29. Pakistan
30. Palau
31. Papua New Guinea
32. Samoa
33. San Marino
34. Solomon Islands
35. Sri Lanka
36. St. Kitts and Nevis
37. St. Lucia
38. St. Vincent and the Grenadines
39. Suriname
40. Timor-Leste
41. Tonga
42. Trinidad and Tobago
43. Tuvalu
44. Uzbekistan
45. Vanuatu