At #YouTubeBlack Africa Celebration in Cape Town, Inspiring Stories of Africa Abound

Vanessa Obioha

What do an engineer, a stay-at-home mom, and a digital media entrepreneur have in common? They are content creators on YouTube and beneficiaries of the platform’s #YouTubeBlack Voice Fund, an initiative launched in 2020 to support and amplify Black Voices. 

For three days in Cape Town, South Africa, YouTube hosted and celebrated the influential creators from Sub-Saharan Africa as part of its annual #YouTubeBlack Africa celebration. The event also witnessed the graduation of the #YouTubeBlack Voices Fund Creator Class of 2022, and the introduction of the 2023 cohort. 

Over music, food, games, and dance, these creators connected and shared their experiences. For a moment, they let down their hair and danced to the pulsating beats of Africa. Be it at the RED Roof Bar where a reception was held for them or at The Avenue where they danced the night away after the ceremony in the company of the exotic aquatic animals enclosed in a gigantic aquarium.

But beyond the fanfare, what really resonated with every attendee was the inspiring tales shared by the creators. Take, for instance, Mlungisi Nkosi, a South African engineer who teaches mathematics and physical science at a community college. When the pandemic struck in 2020, Nkosi discovered that people from affluent communities could continue teaching and learning. 

“But unfortunately, those who were from under-resourced communities could not, and essentially I started teaching on YouTube just to try and provide access so that learners could continue teaching and learning,” he said.

When he started, his YouTube channel only had 5,000 subscribers but since he joined the #YouTubeBlack Voices Fund which provides participants with seed funding, mentorship, and other networking programmes and training, Nkosi’s channel has accumulated over 100,000 subscribers. He has also been able to set up a business.

Another content creator Adaeze Jideonwo from Nigeria described herself as a professional housewife. She resigned from her banking job to become a stay-at-home mom. She however found a purpose in sharing her journey and her passions on her YouTube channel, Adaeze Space.

“Getting chosen to be part of #YouTube Black Voices Fund was kind of a validation of what I was doing, and also having a YouTube Partner Manager helped me to understand how to package my channel in a better way. I was able to understand the analytics more and reach my audience better. It was really good. I was so happy to be a part of the class of 2022 because I learned from other creators as well. You know, see how other people do what they do. I remember when we had a cooking class. It was like organised chaos. So I’m really happy to be part of it,” she enthused.

When Kenyan Justus Nandwa climbed the stage to share his experience, he captured everyone’s attention with his inspiring tale to make a difference in his community. Although he had a humble beginning, Nandwa who is a journalist and a digital media entrepreneur has found a sort of fulfillment using his YouTube channel ‘Shared Moments with Justus’ to put a human face to issues faced by ordinary Africans. At first, when he started uploading content on YouTube, it was mainly for fun.

“I was basically just having fun and doing the things that I was passionate about. But throughout my experience on #YouTubeBlack Voices Fund, it’s more of a turnaround because I can now earn a living out of it,” he disclosed.

He continued: “I started back in 2020 during COVID because I had the time and the knowledge, but  I didn’t have the money,” he joked.

“So basically what I do is allow people to come and share their stories of experiences that I think can be able to influence and impact other people’s lives.”

Nandwa considers himself a custodian of African heritage. 

“Through storytelling, I’m able to guarantee that the generations to come will be able to know where we have come from as Africans and what our aspirations were, and what we can do to carry on going forward. And so #YouTubeBlack Voices Fund has not just been helpful financially, but they have basically provided a place where I’m able to speak, but the networking that I’ve had and experienced has more or less validated the fact that we have been speaking in one voice as Africans.”

Nandwa, who used to shoot from his house, said he has acquired a studio where he can produce his show as well as other programmes.

These stories are a testament to what YouTube hoped to achieve through the initiative: making local content creators global as implied by the Head of YouTube Southern Africa, Zeph Masote.

According to him, some of the creators who benefitted from the initiative have gone to build their small and medium-sized businesses.

“They employ tens of people as a result of them being on YouTube. That’s what we call success.” 

He added that the company is passionate about raising African storytellers and creatives to be global in a sustainable manner so that it does not look like a flash in the pan. Although the fund is limited to Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya at the moment, the Head of YouTube East and West Africa, Solafunmi Sosanya revealed that there are plans to expand to other parts of the continent.

As content is the livewire of the platform, Sosanya added that the creators’ community is getting more diverse each day and as such, it is the main focus of the company. “Because essentially they build the audiences that come to view their products on YouTube.”

For the Class of 2023, 40 African creators were selected and the young  Nigerian comedian Maryam Apaokagi popularly known as Taaooma alongside other Nigerian YouTubers are among the cohort. 

In addition, four music artists and two producers were selected for the Music and Songwriters/ Producer classes of 2023. Representing Nigeria in the music list are Asake and BNXN. They will be joined by Gyakie from Ghana, Kamo Mphela from South Africa. Hip-hop producer MashBeatz from South Africa and Nairobi-based producer Ukweli will be joining 17 #YouTubeBlack Voices Songwriters and Producers globally.

YouTube also announced that it will be 

directly investing in more than 500 creators and artists from across the world to support, grow, and fund their channels and content development through the #YouTubeBlack Voices Fund in the next few years.