General News
From Streams to Streets: Spotify Wrapped 2025 Takes Africa on a Real-World Road Trip


Spotify
This year, Spotify is bringing back the fan-favourite features people already love, while adding new experiences that spotlight how listeners across Africa moved, prayed, worked, partied and rested with audio. Wrapped Party invites fans to dive into their stories with friends and family, and 50 fan destinations worldwide give listeners a place to come together, celebrate their year in music and feel part of something truly global.
From design to in-person experiences and data stories rooted in local listening, this is how the 2025 Wrapped campaign comes to life across Africa.
A modern visual mixtape for Africa
Before streaming, mixtapes and burned CDs were the original playlists: handpicked, decorated and passed between friends, cousins and neighbours as deeply personal gifts. The 2025 Wrapped design builds on that tradition, turning a year of listening into a bold, dynamic visual mixtape for more than 700 million fans around the world – including millions across Africa.
Every gradient and texture reflects that unpredictable mix of emotion and rhythm that makes listening so personal. With a reduced colour palette, bold imagery and a blend of analogue and digital aesthetics, 2025 becomes the most expressive and modern-feeling Wrapped yet. From amapiano dance circles in Johannesburg to late-night studio sessions in Lagos and road-trip singalongs in Nairobi, the look and feel of Wrapped mirrors how African fans actually experience music – loud, layered and full of feeling.
Immersive real-world experiences – and an amagwinya road trip
The Wrapped creative campaign is live in more than 30 markets globally as Spotify moves beyond traditional billboards to create immersive experiences that celebrate the artists who defined 2025. Across Africa, installations and pop-ups bring Wrapped digital storytelling into the real world with artist integrations, interactive photo moments and live performances for top listeners.
In South Africa, Wrapped quite literally hits the road. Inspired by the heartbreak of reaching the front of the line only to hear the gwinyas are finished – and the way Darwin Rev turned that moment into a national mood with Amagwinya Aphelile – the Where Are the Gwinyas? fan destination sends a Wrapped-branded amagwinya kombi on a multi-city road trip.
The truck travels through Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and Pretoria, serving up gwinya with a Wrapped twist – from fish fillet to bunny-chow-inspired curry fillings and classic snoek, atchar and polony. At each stop, fans turn up their favourite Wrapped anthems, transforming the kombi from simple food truck into rolling street party.
“Wrapped has always been about reflecting fans’ stories back to them, and this year those stories from Sub-Saharan Africa are literally spilling into the streets. From the amagwinya road trip in South Africa to the data stories coming out of Nigeria and Kenya, we’re showing that the numbers behind Wrapped are really about how people here live, move and connect through music,” says Spotify’s Head of Marketing for Africa, Sithabile Kachisa.
How Africa listened in 2025
Wrapped is ultimately about turning listening data into stories fans can see themselves in – and nowhere is that more vivid than in Africa.
In South Africa, early mornings belonged to Ciza’s Isaka, with more than 46,000 fans pressing play at exactly 6:00 a.m., turning sunrise into a shared soundtrack. Mafikizolo’s Uyoncengwa Unyoko passed 14 million plays, proving some songs are built for repeat on both the dancefloor and in the taxi rank.
In Nigeria, Fido’s Joy is Coming found its way onto more than 700 playlists tagged as sad, as listeners reached for hope even when the mood was low. Davido’s With You amassed over 42 million streams, underlining the staying power of one of the country’s most beloved hitmakers.
In Kenya, Extra Pressure was added to fans’ gym playlists, turning workouts into high-stakes training montages, while Njerae’s Aki Sioni crossed 3.2 million streams, transforming vulnerability into a chart-ready strength.
Across the continent, these moments show how Wrapped transforms numbers into narratives. The stats reveal not just what Africa listened to in 2025, but how, when and why it mattered – from perfectly timed play buttons and weekday rituals to songs that travelled through communities as gifts, prayers, jokes and declarations. Wrapped gathers all of that energy and hands it back to fans as a story only they could have written.
General News
Shareholders of MTN Nigeria Okay N152Bn Fintech Restructuring

Shareholders of MTN Nigeria have approved a major restructuring of the company’s digital financial services arm, clearing the way for a N152.06 billion transaction that will see the telecom giant relinquish majority control of its fintech subsidiaries.

The approval, granted at the company’s Annual General Meeting on April 30, endorses Resolution 9, which transfers a 60 per cent stake in MoMo Payment Service Bank Limited and Y’ello Digital Financial Services Limited to MTN Group Fintech B.V.
Under the arrangement, the group’s fintech arm will inject fresh capital into the businesses while also acquiring shares from MTN Nigeria through a hybrid structure combining primary and secondary investments.
Following the transaction, both parties will consolidate their interests into a newly created holding company to be registered with the Central Bank of Nigeria, a move designed to streamline oversight and position the fintech operations for future investment.
The restructuring marks a significant shift in MTN Nigeria’s strategy, effectively transferring a larger share of the financial and operational responsibility for the fintech business to the parent company, while allowing the local entity to refocus on its core telecommunications operations.
Industry observers say the move aligns with the broader “Ambition 2030” roadmap of the MTN Group, which prioritises scaling digital and financial services across its markets.
The company acknowledged that its fintech subsidiaries are currently loss-making, reflecting the capital-intensive nature of building digital payment platforms.
By reducing its direct exposure, MTN Nigeria is expected to free up resources to strengthen its connectivity infrastructure, while the fintech arm gains the financial backing required to accelerate expansion.
The planned holding company structure is also expected to enhance investment flexibility, enabling the business to attract strategic partners and scale operations in areas such as rural penetration, merchant acquisition and digital payments.
General News
Guinness Nigeria Celebrates 76 Years of Brewing Greatness

Guinness Nigeria Plc is set to mark 76 years of operations on April 29, a milestone for one of the country’s most enduring corporate institutions and widely regarded as Nigeria’s foremost total beverage alcohol business.

Established in 1950 and with its first brewery commissioned in Ikeja in 1962, Guinness Nigeria holds a distinct place in industrial history as the first Guinness brewery built outside Ireland and the United Kingdom. What began as an imported stout has evolved into a deeply rooted local enterprise, growing alongside the country through decades of change, expansion, and reinvention.
From its early years to its listing on the Nigerian Exchange in 1965, the company steadily expanded its footprint, building a nationwide network of brewing and distribution operations, alongside a diversified portfolio that reflects both heritage and shifting consumer tastes.
Guinness Stout remains its most iconic brand, long associated with depth and character, while Malta Guinness has become a household staple across generations. Complementing these are spirits and contemporary offerings including Orijin, Gordon’s, Don Royale and Smirnoff, each firmly embedded within Nigeria’s evolving consumer culture.
Today, Nigeria ranks among the most important markets for Guinness globally, underscoring a relationship that extends well beyond consumption into culture, identity, and shared moments of celebration.
This connection has been reinforced by a long-standing commitment to social impact. As far back as 1962, the company established the Guinness Eye Centre at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, setting a precedent for healthcare interventions that continues today with a second eye centre in Onitsha. Its Water of Life initiative continues to deliver clean water to underserved communities, while sustained campaigns around responsible drinking and road safety reflect an ongoing commitment to societal well-being.
These efforts have shaped Guinness Nigeria’s identity, not just as a manufacturer, but as an active and consistent partner in the development of its host communities.
This interplay between enterprise and impact has been central to the company’s longevity, enabling it to remain both relevant and trusted, even as it evolves.
The 76th anniversary comes at a moment of renewed financial strength and transformation, following a return to profitability and the restoration of shareholder payouts after an extended period of consolidation.
Managing Director and CEO, Girish Sharma, described the milestone as the result of decades of deliberate choices. “In Nigeria, Guinness is part of the national story. The progress we have made reflects discipline, continuity, and a commitment to remaining a business that Nigerians trust, while growing in step with the communities around us,” he said.
Looking ahead, the company’s ambition is captured in its ‘Build for More’ agenda to become Nigeria’s premier and most celebrated total beverage alcohol company by the end of the decade. With a modernised portfolio, a strengthened balance sheet, and a sharper understanding of evolving consumer needs, that ambition is already in motion.
The mission, however, remains simple: to help Nigerians celebrate life, every day, everywhere.
General News
Glo Commends Nigerian Workers on May Day

Digital solutions powerhouse, Globacom, has paid tribute to Nigerian workers, whose steadfast industry and enduring commitment continue to propel NIgeria’s march towards development.

As the world observes the 2026 International Workers’ Day, the company acknowledged the indispensable role of labour as the unseen engine that keeps the machinery of national advancement in measured, purposeful motion.
Globacom, in a statement issued in Lagos on Thursday, appreciated the role of labour in oiling Nigeria’s wheel of development and also affirmed their importance in the progress of the country.
Glo urged employees across both public and private sectors to remain resolute in their pursuit of excellence, emphasizing that the collective discipline of the workforce is central to realizing Nigeria’s aspirations for sustainable growth and prosperity.
“We encourage all workers not to relent in their noble task of advancing the nation through conscientious service and professional dedication,” the statement affirmed.
The International Workers’ Day, commemorated annually on 1 May, celebrates the dignity of labour and the enduring significance of workers in shaping the fortunes of societies across the world.
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