The founder of WeTalkSound has called for strategic partnerships between the creative sector and other industries, arguing that creatives alone lack the expertise to solve all their challenges.
Speaking at NECLive 2025, Dolapo Amusat stated that African creators must resist the temptation to alter their art forms for global appeal. “There’s an appetite for African content at this time. People who want African stuff really want African stuff. You can’t be better at sounding more American than Kendrick Lamar or Drake,” he said.
However, Amusat emphasized that authenticity alone isn’t sufficient. He advocated for strategic collaborations and platform optimisation, citing how algorithm understanding can dramatically expand content reach. He referenced how global YouTuber Mr Beast’s best-performing Facebook video contained no spoken words because language automatically limits algorithmic distribution to specific demographics.
Most critically, Amusat argued that the creative industry must look beyond itself for solutions. ” We don’t have the knowledge or experience to solve all our problems. We need to partner with policy, big tech, telcos, and finance,” he declared, pointing to successful collaborations like the MTN-YouTube-Nollywood partnership that transformed Nollywood’s digital presence.
The entrepreneur, who has worked with major platforms including YouTube, the Grammys, and BET, insisted that partnerships remain the single most important factor in powering Africa’s creative economy.
