Spotify has unveiled its top five most streamed podcasts in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa for 2024, with Apostle Femi Lazarus retaining the top spot.
In a statement on Thursday, Spotify’s Sub-Saharan Africa podcast manager Ncebakazi Manzi highlighted the region’s growing appetite for podcast content, with nearly four billion minutes of podcast audio streamed across Sub-Saharan Africa in 2024.
Manzi said others that make the top five spots for podcasts in Nigeria were Motivation Daily by Motiversity, Success Addicted Podcast with the voice of Earl Nightingale, Napoleon Hill, Jim Rohn and many more, Apostle Joshua Selman, and The Honest Bunch Podcast.
She said the top five most streamed podcasts in South Africa were The Joe Rogan Experience, The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett, What Now? With Trevor Noah, Motivation Daily by Motivarsity and Podcast and Chil with MacG.
For the top five most streamed podcasts in Kenya, Manzi said they were The97sPodcast, So This Is Love, The Mkurugenzi Podcast, Mic Cheque Podcast and The Sandwich Podcast.
She described podcasts as one of Africa’s favourite ways to tell stories.
She said with almost four billion minutes of podcast audio played in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2024, the continent’s appetite for the content had become loud and clear.
“South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya listened to the most shows this year, with South Africa contributing over two billion minutes.
“The numbers don’t lie. Podcasting is here to stay because it lets creators take control of their narratives and tell these stories on their terms while bringing their community along for the journey.
“Podcasts are personal, but trends do exist across the continent’s leading markets and beyond,” she said.
Manzi said that motivational shows around issues like managing finances, relationships, personal goals and health remained popular across the three leading countries.
“As the continent’s second-largest podcast market, Nigeria listened to 700 million minutes in 2024 and it created half of the new shows published in Sub-Saharan Africa this year.
“Even though spirituality dominated Nigeria’s top charts, the continued popularity of shows like “I Said What I Said” and “The HonestBunch Podcast” tell us that listeners also want conversation-style shows.
“Listeners in Kenya and South Africa also showed affinity toward these shows,” she said.
