Spotify will open its Partner Program in 37 more countries on 20 October. None is in Africa, so creators with a legal address on the continent still cannot apply. The Nigerian Podcast Index now lists 604 shows, but fewer than half are classed as active. And South Africa's Good Things Guy reports more than seven million streams this year, by its own count. Podnews reports a shift in Apple Podcasts discovery that Apple disputes. Apple's documentation also explains how to find an episode with Search in Show.
Spotify says its Partner Program, which pays podcasters a share of ad revenue and Premium video revenue, is coming to more than 35 new markets. Its support page lists 37 countries in Europe, the Caribbean and the Americas, with a start date of 20 October 2026. No African country is on that list, or among the markets where the programme already runs.
The list decides who can join. Spotify's support page says a show must "have a legal address in one of the above eligible markets", and that creators cannot apply if they are not in one. Spotify gives no reason for leaving Africa out and no date for adding it. It says only that the markets "may change from time to time".
Our read: African podcasters can still publish on Spotify and sell their own sponsorships, but Spotify-managed ad revenue and Premium video payouts remain closed to them. Check the Monetize page in Spotify for Creators rather than relying on a published list. Read the full story.
37 new markets on 20 October. None of them in Africa.
Podnews reports a shift in Apple Podcasts discovery. Podnews reports that Apple Podcasts' Home and New tabs now favour personalised recommendations over country-curated views. Apple told Podnews its editorial approach has not changed, and its creator guide still describes curation by editors around the world. Podnews's reported examples come from Canada, Australia and the UK; they do not establish results in African markets.
Read more: Apple Podcasts discovery
Find an episode with Apple Podcasts Search in Show. Apple's documentation describes a search bar in the See All Episodes view for finding a guest, title, keyword or transcript phrase. Apple lists iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Vision Pro and the web, while warning that features may vary by country and region. Its separate availability table does not name Search in Show, so it does not establish country-specific availability for this feature.
Good Things Guy reports seven million podcast streams. The South African positive-news podcast says it attracted more than seven million streams across all platforms in the first eight months of 2026, with YouTube and Facebook its strongest channels. The figures are reported by the podcast itself, with no platform-by-platform breakdown.
Listed in the Nigerian Podcast Index 2026 report, up from 329. Only 44.4% are active. The index released its report on 1 October. It says active shows rose modestly, from 241 to 268, while 55.3% of listed shows are on hiatus. Spotify for Creators hosts 385 of them, or 63.7%; African-native platforms account for about 3.5%. The figures come from the index's report. Read more: Nigeria's podcast index.