Choplife, the entertainment and technology company founded by Nigerian musician and entrepreneur Oluwatosin “Mr Eazi” Ajibade, has moved its operations into Itana, Africa’s digital free trade zone. The move was announced on August 13, 2026, and positions Choplife to scale its entertainment, media, gaming and technology businesses across the continent from a single operational base.
A Different Kind of Tenant for Itana
Unlike most companies that have joined Itana so far, which tend to be software-focused, Choplife operates across entertainment, media, technology, gaming and sports. Founded in 2020, the company runs franchises in 12 African markets including Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda and Tanzania. Mr Eazi has said that close to all of what Choplife creates is produced in Africa, even though its content and products reach audiences across the continent and beyond.
For Choplife, the appeal of Itana was straightforward. The company wanted to build a pan-African business without relocating its corporate base to jurisdictions such as Delaware or London, something many African founders have historically done to access more favourable regulatory and banking environments.
What Itana Offers
Itana was launched in 2021 to give African digital businesses some of the same structural advantages that have long pushed founders offshore. It operates under the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority, but rather than being built around manufacturing and physical exports like traditional special economic zones, Itana is designed for businesses exporting software, online services, media and intellectual property.
Companies operating from the zone gain access to tax incentives, multi-currency banking and simplified capital repatriation. Specific incentives include waivers on the standard 30 percent Companies Income Tax, the 7.5 percent Value Added Tax on goods and services, withholding tax of roughly 2.5 to 10 percent on services, rent, interest and dividends, and the 10 percent Capital Gains Tax on asset disposals, along with federal stamp duties.
What Comes Next
Following the move, Choplife plans to deepen its expansion into Francophone Africa while entering Southern African markets for the first time. Beyond its existing technology and entertainment operations, the company also intends to produce film and media content from within Itana.
For Itana, signing Choplife broadens the kinds of businesses the zone is positioning itself to attract. While the zone has largely been associated with software startups, Itana CEO Chinyere Inya has argued that globally scalable African businesses extend well beyond traditional tech, and that companies in the creative sector can build and grow from Nigeria at scale. More than 50 companies have established operations within Itana to date, according to the zone’s own figures.
