The advent of social media and its continuous growth capacity have brought about a new wave of content creators who influence others through their skill, word prowess, coordination and that they have done well for themselves and have become household names. Popularly referred to as social media influencers with a lot of them spread across Africa dishing out beautiful content, they also use their platforms to advertise various products and services. This piece, therefore, brings to you some of the biggest names in the world of social media influencing Africa.
From the blue-bird app, Twitter to Facebook, Tiktok, Instagram, Youtube and others, these young Africans have created a niche for themselves in different areas by telling their own stories, influencing brand products, teaching skills, or passing across educational information for better living.
Khaby Lame
Topmost on this list is Senegalese-born TikToker, Khabane Lame known as Khaby Lame whose influencing job began because of a loss of job during the Covid-19 pandemic.
He started by posting funny videos where he called out meaningless and time-wasting life hacks and D.I.Y content by presenting more simpler ways of achieving such things.
His uniqueness and his comical facial expressions as well as his none-speaking attitude distinguished him and made him a viral sensation.
The twenty-three-year-old has 156.4 million followers on TikTok and reportedly earns about $200,000 per month.
Whilst most of his earnings come from brand sponsorships, Khaby has used his TikTok platform to promote his virtual store where items such as t-shirts, magic candles and other items are sold.
Khaby lame is currently the second most followed Tiktoker worldwide.
Boitumelo Thulo
Boitumelo Thulo (@boity) is the biggest South African influencer on Instagram with 5.8M followers. The 33 years old influencer is also a well-known rapper, television personality and ambassador.
As a social media creator, she has an amazing Instagram feed which features lifestyle content and inspirational talks. She was ranked South Africa’s second-highest-earning celebrity with $777. 852 in 2022.
Wian Vandenberg
Popularly known as Wian Magic due to the nature of his abilities, he grew popular on social media when he began posting videos of his magic tricks combined with his humour which at some point paved the way for his emergence as the most successful magician on social media.
He also shares the contents of some of his secrets about doing things.
He has about 16.4 million followers on TikTok and 1.7 million followers on Instagram.
Wian launched an NFT collection in 2021 which was the first to be launched by a social media influencer in Africa.
Charity Ekezie
Nigerian TikTok star, Charity Ekezie, is a content creator whose social media posts about Africa make her appealing to the global community.
Charity joined TikTok during the covid lockdown in 2020 to pass time and kill boredom. Using her sense of humour alongside sarcasm, she educates the global audience on the positives and good sides of Africa which are often not talked about. She takes time to shed light on life in Africa and the potentials inherent in the continent like food, culture, infrastructure, people and the overall beauty that Africa presents.
Charity has more than 2M TikTok followers and 152K Instagram followers.
In January 2023, Charity bagged a TikTok award as the runner-up for the top content creator in Sub-Saharan Africa for 2022.
Rodney Odinakachi Umeh
Rodney is a fast-rising Nigerian social media influencer, TikToker and content creator known for his hilarious short videos, which he usually posts on his Instagram and Tik Tok pages.
Rodney, also known as the Wisdom man, has over 3.7 million followers on the TikTok app and over 300,000 followers on Instagram.
He started posting videos on his social media in 2020 during the Pandemic period when everyone was locked indoors.
Sarah Langa
Sarah is one of the recognized African Influencers who showcase supreme style and expertise in fashion, lifestyle and travel.
The Johannesburg-born content creator and influencer is well-known for her travel lifestyle and fashion tips. She is well known to run one of the most profitable blogs in South Africa and work with big brands which have grown her followership base on Instagram to around 700k followers on Instagram and about 100 followers on Twitter.
She often uses her influence to help her community and others as she is involved with multiple charities supporting the education of children from low-income households.
Onyi Moss
Onyi is another leading lifestyle, travel, and fashion blogger from the African continent based in the UK.
A self-taught professional photographer and content creator from Nigeria, Onyi’s Instagram feed is a living art gallery which houses various aesthetics and attracts about 180k followers to her page.
Having initially relocated to the UK to progress her profession as a Chartered Accountant, she however eventually became a full-time blogger and content creator, focusing on women’s empowerment.
The presentation of these few talented Africans seems like just a scratch on the surface therefore expect more from the stable of African Leadership Magazine entertainment section soon. Africa is blessed with creative and talented young ones who despite the enormous challenges confronting them have found ways around to get themselves not only gainfully employed through their ingenuity but have also found ways to navigate their presence into the hearts and homes of many while bringing global recognition to their home countries directly and indirectly.
As such, it will not be out of place to say African social media influencers in their numbers are joy givers and time spent following them on various social media platforms will not only be entertaining but inspiring and informative.
