Nigerian Afrobeats star Davido has called on artistes to stop feeling pressured to pursue international tours at the expense of building stronger markets within Africa.

Speaking in an interview with BBC Africa, Davido said Nigerian musicians should not feel compelled to follow trends simply because other artistes are performing at major international festivals and venues.

“Us Nigerians feeling like we need to belong to something needs to stop,” he said.

He pointed to his own '5ive' tour as an example, noting that although he performed in major arenas outside Africa, he deliberately took the tour to different parts of Nigeria, including Ibadan, Enugu and Adamawa.

His Adamawa concert was one of the Nigerian stops on the tour, while his Ibadan show drew about 25,000 fans.

Davido argued that the African continent offers a huge and largely untapped market for its own musicians.

"The continent is that big. You don't always have to follow what everybody else is doing," he said.

He further cited fellow Nigerian musician Flavour, suggesting that artistes can make significant money by focusing on audiences and opportunities within Nigeria rather than constantly chasing international bookings.

"Flavour is in Nigeria are making money than a lot of us is that are touring in America," he said.

According to Davido, Nigerian musicians should not feel that success depends on appearing at events such as Wireless or Summer Jam when Africa itself has the capacity to host major music events.

"It doesn't have to be that way when we can have our own in Africa," he said.

His comments come amid his increasing emphasis on African markets and culture.

In a separate BBC 1Xtra interview earlier this year, Davido said his upcoming music would be more deeply rooted in African sounds and that he wanted to focus more on Africa after achieving international success.

Watch the video below:

“You don't always have to follow what everybody else is doing. Flavour is in Nigeria making money than a lot of artistes that are touring in America.” — Davido pic.twitter.com/FqcfuvPTbs

— YabaLeftOnline (@yabaleftonline) August 8, 2026