“Nothing about us without us”, goes the saying. So why did it take an American influencer and online streamer to make Kenya ‘go viral’ during a highly anticipated visit, when talented, innovative Africa-based content creators are already championing the continent? Kenyan travel journalist Harriet Akinyi gives us a few creatives to follow.
When American streaming sensation IShowSpeed arrived in Kenya during his African tour, the country became one of the most talked-about destinations online. I watched his livestream from the rooftop of Nairobi’s Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), where he celebrated reaching 48 million YouTube subscribers while filming Nairobi’s skyline from KICC’s helipad.
From the streets to the sky, Nairobi felt like a shared celebration of youth, culture, and creativity. He met Kenya’s Olympic javelin champion Julius Yego for a throwing challenge, visited Mukuru Affordable housing project and played basketball with the local youth, traveled by matatu (local minibuses), and visited the open-air Kenyatta Market, famous for its nyama choma (griled meats).
But as entertaining as the stream was, it raised a question: Why did it take an American content creator for Africa and the world to appreciate the continent—when African creators have been doing this for years?
Africa’s landscapes, cultures and people often become the centerpiece of viral content, yet attention is frequently amplified towards the outsider’s algorithm, sponsorships and audience size despite African creators producing deeper narratives. And yet, a new generation of African digital storytellers is steadily reshaping how the continent is seen, one story at a time. As Moroccan creator Ana Soumaya says, “African intellectualism does not need Western validation to be legitimate.”
Creator: Jessica Nabongo
Content niche: Decolonizing travel
Primary platform: Instagram @jessicanabongo
Other platform: YouTube @Thecatchmeifyoucan
Jessica Nabongo, a Ugandan-American travel writer, photographer, entrepreneur, and author, is known for becoming one of the first documented Black women to visit every country in the world and who uses her platform to bring overlooked stories to global audiences.
With around 246,000 Instagram followers, one of her most impactful posts focused on the Central African Republic where she moved beyond images of conflict to document everyday life in the capital Bangui, photographing vendors, pedestrians, a barbershop, and locals at work. She’s also documented her travels in her book, The Catch Me If You Can: One Woman’s Journey to Every Country in the World.
Nabongo’s experience in Madagascar showed another side to the island, that’s best known for its wildlife and nature, including its its iconic baobab trees. From understanding the baobab as a spiritual and physical anchor of communal life, from meetings to weddings, to the idea that deceased ancestors reside within and communicate through the baobabs, she left realizing it was this community mindset that had made the deepest impression.
Creator: Abdurrahman Babadiddi aka ‘Abdul Wanders’
Content niche: African luxury travel
Primary platform: Instagram @abdulwanders
Other platform: TikTok @abdulwanders
Abdurrahman Babadiddi who’s better known as ‘Abdul Wanders’ is a Nigerian travel content creator with 72,500 followers on Instagram and over 68,5000 on TikTok. He aims to reshape perceptions of Africa by moving beyond narratives of poverty and wildlife to highlight the continent’s sophistication, innovation and creativity.
His coverage of Nigeria offers one example. He showcases the misty mountains and eco-friendly lodges of Obudu Mountain Resort in the country’s Obudu Plateau, the beaches of Tarkwa Bay by Lagos Harbor, and the striking Abuja National Mosque in the capital (Abuja). In one video, viewers were surprised to discover that scenes resembling Bali or Turkey had actually been filmed in Nigeria.
But changing perceptions is not always easy. “African content creators are often undervalued or overlooked,” he says, “meaning you have to work significantly harder to gain the same level of recognition.”
Creator: Ana Soumaya
Content niche: Colonial history and language
Primary platform: Instagram @anasoumaya
Other platform: TikTok @anasoumaya
Based in Casablanca, Morocco, Ana Soumaya is the founder of two pioneering initiatives. One is Darija Daba, a Moroccan Darija language program that has taught hundreds of students, and the second is Colonial Detox, an educational platform examining how colonial legacies shape culture, education, and identity.
Darija, Morocco’s spoken Arabic dialect, reflects influences from Amazigh, French, and Spanish. On Instagram (158,000 followers) and TikTok (27.8K), Soumaya shares lessons on everyday phrases, slang, and expressions, connecting language to Moroccan identity and history while through Colonial Detox, she examines colonial influence across Morocco and Africa, challenging narratives shaped by outsiders to justify extraction, occupation, and ideas of African inferiority.
Her approach turns language education into cultural reclamation. “African storytelling is about ownership and agency because the alternative is that someone else does it for us,” she says.
Creator: Dennis Ombachi aka The Roaming Chef
Content niche: Kenyan and African cuisine
Primary platform: TikTok @theroamingchef
Other platforms: Instagram: @the_roamingchef and Twitter @ombachi13
A former Kenyan rugby sevens player turned award-winning food content creator, Dennis Ombachi, also known as The Roaming Chef, has built a large global following, with 2.7 million followers on TikTok, 1.6 million on Instagram, and 294,6000 on X (formerly Twitter). Filmed largely from his Nairobi balcony, his short, visually engaging videos take viewers through each step of the cooking process in a simple, approachable way. His signature phrase “Done!” punctuates each step, giving his videos a distinctive rhythm that have become instantly recognizable.
Ombachi brings Kenyan food culture to life through dishes such as matumbo, cow tripe in a flavorful stew; ugali, a maize meal staple, similar to a thick cornmeal porridge; nyama choma—seasoned roasted or grilled meat, usually goat or beef, cooked over an open flame; and managu, a traditional Kenyan leafy green, typically cooked with onions and tomatoes. Using familiar local ingredients while keeping his cooking accessible and rooted in everyday meals has become his style: “I recommend using your senses and understanding cooking techniques rather than simply following recipes,” Ombachi says.
His approach has also grown to unite different African cultures through cooking; he’s prepared dishes such as Nigerian jollof rice, and South African pap (traditional porridge of white maize meal) and hosted stars such as Nigerian-American singer-songwriter and record producer Davido, and Nigerian singer, songwriter, actress and activist, Yemi Alade.
Creator: Sona Jobarteh
Content niche: West African music
Primary platform: Instagram @sonajobarteh
Other platforms: YouTube @sonajobartehstudio and TikTok @sonajobartehofficial
Gambian musician Sona Jobarteh is widely recognized as the first woman to master the centuries-old West African kora, a 21-string instrument traditionally passed from father to son within griot families—family lineages of West African oral historians, musicians, and storytellers. Passionate about sharing the kora with the world, Jobarteh has made it her mission to introduce international audiences to its history, beauty and cultural importance.
Her social media presence reflects this mission, with 98,900 followers on Instagram, 43,600 subscribers on YouTube and 25,000 on TikTok. She showcases live performances, behind-the-scenes moments, Gambian culture and traditional dress while highlighting her work to inspire young Africans: Challenging European-centered school systems left by colonialism, redefining gender roles, and showing how heritage and literacy can create a livelihood.
Her 2015 song Gambia, celebrating 50 years of Gambian independence has become an unofficial national anthem, with more than 24 million YouTube views. She also founded The Gambia Academy, where students learn dance, drumming, kora and balafon, a tuned West African percussion instrument: “When I sing in my own language, I’m giving you a sense of pride,” Jobarteh says.
Creator: Zanele Muholi
Content niche: Visual arts
Primary platform: Instagram @muholizanele
With more than 193,000 Instagram followers, South African visual activist and humanitarian Zanele Muholi is internationally acclaimed for documenting Black LGBTQ+ communities and redefining portrait photography. Using Instagram as an extension of their visual activism, Muholi has created a living digital archive of Black queer resistance, vulnerability and self-care.
Photographs center Black lesbian, gay, trans, bisexual and intersex communities, presenting their subjects with dignity and visibility—for example, their much-celebrated series of black-and-white self-portraits ‘Somnyama Ngonyama’, meaning ‘Hail the Dark Lioness’ in isiZulu. Through darkened skin tones and high contrast, Muholi challenges the exoticization and underrepresentation of Black skin while exploring identity, race and power.
“My mission is to rewrite a Black, Queer and Trans visual history of South Africa,” they say, “and for the world to know of our resistance and existence at the height of hate crimes in South Africa and beyond.”
Creator: Thebe Magugu
Content niche: African fashion
Primary platform: Instagram @thebemagugu
Other platform: TikTok @thebemagugu
When you enter Thebe Magugu’s Instagram page, you find striking fashion photography, models wearing his collections, behind-the-scenes content, and references to South African culture and history. With 197,000 followers, his platform extends the work of the award-winning South African designer beyond his Johannesburg-based luxury label. In 2019, Magugu became the first African recipient of the LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton) Young Fashion Designer Prize, a major international competition supporting the next generation of designers.
Magugu’s collections explore themes including gender studies, African studies and reparations, connecting his designs to historical movements while challenging Western stereotypes about African fashion. He takes memories, African traditions, family archives and political stories and turns them into contemporary fashion, from basotho blankets (a cloak-style garments commonly worn by Sotho people in in Lesotho and South Africa) to traditional dresses.
“Clothing has always been how I capture a state of mind,” says Magugu. His name means ‘He who protects our treasures’, a fitting reflection of his commitment to preserving, reinterpreting and reimagining African culture through fashion, and more recently, interiors.
Creator: Charity Ekezie
Content niche: Colonial history
Primary platform: TikTok @charityekezie
Other platforms: Instagram @itssucrepea and YouTube @charityekezie
Charity Ekezie is a Nigerian digital content creator, influencer and former radio journalist who uses satire and humor to reframe how African culture, lifestyles and development are seen by global audiences. Her first viral video in 2020, showcasing colorful traditional attires, catapulted her to fame. When the video attracted questions about the continent—including whether Africans had clothes, technology and running water—Ekezie, instead of giving straightforward explanations, turned the reactions into humorous ‘clapback’ videos, using absurd responses to expose and challenge the stereotypes behind them.
In reply to the question, “How will I get water if I come to Africa?”, she filmed herself and her cousins dancing in their village river with the caption, “When they say Africans have no water,”—deliberately playing along with the stereotype to expose its absurdity. The video reportedly received more than 22 million views, demonstrating the power of humor to communicate effectively.
Ekezie’s content has since evolved into a modern form of cultural advocacy, reaching millions of people globally, with 3.7 million TikTok followers, 1.4 million YouTube subscribers and 789,000 Instagram followers. “There’s already so much negativity about Africa,” she says. “It’s time now that we start showing the good sides of Africa.”
The creators in this story so far are by no means an exhaustive list, to say the least; if you follow them, no doubt the algorithm will suggest plenty more talented writers, filmmakers, historians and changemakers, but in the meantime, here are seven more to follow
Creator: Wode Maya
Content niche: Africa Travel
One of Ghana’s first YouTubers to surpass one million subscribers, Berthold Kobby Winkler Ackon aka Wode Maya travels across Africa and the diaspora, showcasing daily life, business, innovation and culture.“Until the history of Africa is told by Africans, the story of greatness will always glorify the imperialists,” he says.
Primary platforms: Facebook WodeMaya and YouTube @wodemaya
Other platforms: Instagram @mrghanababy, TikTok @wode_maya and X (formerly Twitter) @wode_maya
Creator: Chao Tayiana Maina
Content niche: Kenyan history and heritage
One of Africa’s leading historians, Kenya-based Maina uses social media to tell stories about Kenya’s architecture, archives, colonial history and cultural heritage, and she co-founded African Digital Heritage.
Primary platform: Instagram @headstronghistorian
Creator: Abel Birhanu
Content niche: Global travel through Amharic (Ethiopia’s official language)
Redefining travel storytelling by bringing the world to African audiences through Amharic, his videos take audiences from Western retail stores and Chongqing’s futuristic skyline to the Kalahari Desert, showing modern cities, diverse cultures, and African landscapes beyond familiar stereotypes.
Primary platform: YouTube @AbelBirhanu
Other platforms: TikTok @abelbirhanu and Instagram @abelbirhanu
Creator: Valerie Keter
Content niche: African identity
Kenyan cultural storyteller and filmmaker Keter creates educational content to help Africans and the African diaspora better understand their history and reconnect with their identity.
Primary platform: Instagram @valerie_keter
Creator: Tayo Aina
Content niche: African travel
Living in Portugal, this Nigerian filmmaker, photographer and travel content creator uses cinematic videos to show African life and culture without exoticizing, from successful entrepreneurs to Maasai warriors, challenging the idea that the continent is defined by poverty or dependence on foreign aid.
Primary platform: YouTube @tayoainafilms
Other platforms: Instagram @tayoainafilms, Facebook @tayoainafilms and TikTok @tayoainafilms
Creator: Alum Scovia
Content niche: Decolonizing Ugandan and African everyday life
Known as Alum on Instagram, this Ugandan content creator uses wit and sarcasm to both showcase traditional village life in northern Uganda and demystify living on the continent.
Primary platform: Instagram @alum_diaries
Other platform: YouTube @alum8484
Creator: Kofi Dotse aka kofigramm
Content niche: Decolonizing Africa travel
Known online as kofigramm, this Ghanaian travel writer, digital creator, and creative producer highlights underrated destinations and vibrant cities such as Abidjan in the Ivory Coast mixed in with pre-colonial history, shared borders, and advocacy on how African stories are represented across global media.
Primary platform: Instagram @kofigramm
Other platform: YouTube @kofidotse
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Harriet Akinyi is a Nairobi-based travel journalist with eight years of experience covering travel, culture and sustainable tourism in Africa. Passionate about storytelling and sustainability, her work has appeared in publications such as AFAR, Fodor’s, Skift, and Condé Nast Traveller.
