Africa’s creator economy is coming of age, driven by a new generation of African digital creators reshaping how media is produced, distributed, and consumed.. With over 570 million internet users across the continent, digital platforms have become Africa’s most powerful media infrastructure, allowing creators to bypass traditional gatekeepers and reach local and global audiences directly.
According to Marketing Analytics Africa, the creator’s economy was valued at $3.08 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach approximately $17.84 billion by 2030, reflecting a roughly 28.5 % annual growth rate. This makes it one of the fastest-growing creative sectors globally.
Across Africa, African digital creators are building loyal communities on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, X (Twitter), podcasts, and newsletters. They aren’t just producing entertainment; they’re influencing culture, shaping commerce, and redefining how brands engage African audiences. What makes this economy distinct is its deeply contextual nature; creators thrive by telling culturally relevant stories that resonate within local markets and beyond.
How African Digital Creators Are Transforming Media and Culture
The creators highlighted below represent how African digital creators are driving the evolution of digital media across the continent..
1. Jola “Jollz” Ayeye (Nigeria)
Niche: Podcasting, screenwriting, pop culture
Real name: Jolaoluwa Ayeye
Image: Jola Ayeye
Jola Ayeye is the co-host and co-creator of I Said What I Said Podcast, one of Nigeria’s most influential pop-culture and lifestyle podcasts. Through candid, often unfiltered conversations on identity, relationships, pop culture and social commentary, the show has become a key space for youth discourse, particularly among young African women. It highlights the growing power of podcasting and audio platforms in shaping cultural conversations beyond traditional social platforms.
Beyond podcasting, Jola operates as a media builder within Africa’s creative ecosystem. She is a co-founder of Carousel Network, a creator-led media company, and Founder of Salt & Truth, a film production company expanding African storytelling on screen. She also runs Happy Noise Maker, a book club community on Instagram. Together, these ventures position her as a creator contributing not just content, but lasting media infrastructure.
2. Elsa Majimbo (Kenya)
Niche: Short-form comedy, internet culture
Real name: Elsa Majimbo
Image: Elsa Majimbo/Native Magazine
Elsa Majimbo rose to prominence through minimalist, dry-humour skits that captured global attention during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Filmed casually and delivered with sharp timing, her content resonated deeply with Gen Z audiences navigating uncertainty, challenging the assumption that viral success requires high production value or elaborate scripting.
Her success reflects a broader shift in digital media toward relatability, tone, and cultural awareness over spectacle. Elsa’s ability to command attention with minimal setup and a clearly defined voice, demonstrates how African creators can dominate global platforms by leaning into authenticity rather than chasing trends.
3. Taaooma (Nigeria)
Niche: Narrative comedy, digital storytelling
Real name: Maryam Adedoyin Apaokagi
Image: Taooma
Taaooma is one of Nigeria’s most influential digital comedians, widely recognised for her multi-character comedy skits that explore family dynamics, generational conflict, and everyday Nigerian life. By playing multiple roles within a single narrative, she transforms familiar experiences into structured short-form stories that resonate across age groups.
Operating as a one-woman creative studio, Taaooma writes, directs, performs, and distributes her content independently. Her work illustrates how culturally specific storytelling can achieve scale and massive engagement while remaining authentic, offering a clear lesson for brands and media organisations seeking relevance in diverse African markets.
4. Khaby Lame (Senegal-Italy)
Niche: Silent comedy, visual storytelling
Real name: Khabane Lame
Image: Khaby Lame/Instagram
Khaby Lame is one the most-followed creators on TikTok globally, known for silent reaction videos that parody overly complicated life hacks. His content relies entirely on facial expressions, gestures, and timing, making it universally understandable across languages and cultures.
Khaby’s meteoric rise demonstrates the power of visual-first storytelling in the platform economy. By stripping humour down to its most basic elements, he has built one of the largest audiences in digital history, proving that African creators can lead global internet culture without conforming to dominant language or production norms.
5. Sisi Yemmie (Nigeria)
Niche: Food, lifestyle storytelling
Real name: Yemisi Sophie Odusanya
Image: SisiYemmieTV/YouTube
Sisi Yemmie has built a trusted digital presence by blending Nigerian food content with lifestyle storytelling. Her videos go beyond recipes and cooking tutorials, weaving in themes of family life, motherhood, culture, and everyday routines that make her content deeply relatable to her audience. She exemplifies how food creators can evolve into trusted lifestyle media brands rooted in authenticity and cultural continuity.
Through consistency and narrative layering, she has transformed food content into a lifestyle media brand. Her work highlights how creators can preserve cultural heritage while building sustainable digital businesses, particularly in niches where trust and familiarity drive long-term engagement.
6. Wode Maya (Ghana)
Niche: Travel, Digital storytelling
Real name: Berthold Kobby Winkler Ackon
Image: Wode Maya
Wode Maya uses travel vlogging to spotlight African innovation, entrepreneurship, and development stories often ignored by mainstream media. His content reframes global perceptions of Africa by focusing on progress, creativity, and local success. Through immersive storytelling, he positions creators as key drivers of narrative change across the continent.
By centering African voices and experiences, Wode Maya demonstrates the power of self-representation in digital media. His work shows how creators can influence global perception while educating audiences and building pride, visibility for local communities.
7. Fisayo Fosudo (Nigeria)
Niche: Tech reviews, cinematic education
Real name: Fisayo Fosudo
Image: Fisayo Fosudo/YouTube
Fisayo Fosudo produces high-quality tech reviews that combine cinematic visuals with clear, accessible explanations. By contextualising technology for African audiences, he transforms product reviews into educational storytelling. His storytelling-driven approach differentiates his work from traditional product reviews. It shows how narrative and production value can build trust and authority in niche digital media spaces.
By prioritising context and clarity, Fisayo builds trust and authority within a highly competitive niche. His content illustrates how educational media can remain engaging when creators treat information as a story rather than a specification list.
8. Mpoomy Ledwaba (South Africa)
Niche: Wellness, faith, personal development
Real name: Mapaseka “Mpoomy” Ledwaba
Image: Mpoomy Ledwaba
Mpoomy Ledwaba creates reflective content centred on faith, emotional wellness, and personal growth through podcasts and social media. Her storytelling prioritises vulnerability and depth over virality, fostering strong community trust. Through her podcast and social platforms, she creates spaces where difficult conversations around healing, purpose, and self-awareness are openly explored.
This approach has helped her build a deeply engaged community that connects with her content beyond surface-level trends. It illustrates how long-form, values-driven content can sustain meaningful influence in Africa’s digital wellness space. In an attention-driven ecosystem, Mpoomy shows that trust and consistency can be more powerful than scale.
9. Aproko Doctor (Nigeria)
Niche: Health education, public health communication
Real name: Dr. Chinonso Egemba
Image: Aproko Doctor
Aproko Doctor is a medical doctor who simplifies health information for everyday audiences through social media. By translating complex medical concepts into clear, relatable language, he bridges the gap between public health knowledge and digital culture, making it more accessible and easier to apply in daily life.
By positioning himself as both educator and communicator, he has built trust with a wide and diverse audience. His work highlights how digital creators can play a critical role in public health awareness, especially in regions where access to reliable health information remains limited.
10. Amine Raghib (Morocco)
Niche: Business education, digital entrepreneurship
Real name: Amine Raghib
Image: Amine Raghib TV/YouTube
Amine Raghib uses digital platforms to educate African audiences on entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and digital business strategy. His content focuses on practical insights rather than motivation alone, helping young professionals navigate modern economic realities. He represents the rise of creator-led business education across North Africa.
He represents a growing category of creators using digital platforms as classrooms, demonstrating how creator-led education can empower young professionals navigating complex economic realities.
11. Mr Eazi (Nigeria)
Niche: Music, creator infrastructure, entrepreneurship
Real name: Oluwatosin Oluwole Ajibade
Image: Mr. Eazi/Banku Music
Beyond music, Mr Eazi is an ecosystem builder through emPawa Africa, a platform that supports emerging African artists with funding, mentorship, and distribution. His work expands the role of creators beyond individual visibility and success to industry development, showing how influence can be leveraged to build sustainable growth in the creative industry.
By investing in infrastructure and artist development, Mr Eazi responds to long-standing gaps in the African music industry. His approach reflects a broader shift toward creator-led ecosystem building, where success is measured not only by reach, but by the sustainability of the industries being shaped.
12. Dulcie Boateng (Ghana)
Niche: Branding, business strategy, marketing education
Real name: Dulcie Ewuraama Boateng
Image: Dulcie Boateng/Instagram
Dulcie Boateng creates content that breaks down branding, marketing, and business growth for African entrepreneurs. Through clear, practical insights, she helps demystify strategy, positioning, and long-term brand building for small businesses and creators.
By using digital platforms as educational tools, Dulcie contributes to the rise of creator-led professional learning across Africa. Her work reflects a growing demand for accessible, experience-driven business education, particularly among entrepreneurs and creatives navigating the continent’s evolving digital economy.
13. Mayssa Khalfallah (Tunisia)
Niche: Travel, lifestyle, cultural storytelling
Real name: Mayssa Khalfallah
Image: Mayssa Khalfallah/Instagram
Mayssa Khalfallah shares travel and lifestyle content with a strong focus on aesthetics, culture, and place-based storytelling. Through a focus on identity, environment, and experience, her work turns everyday travel into a form of cultural documentation rather than surface-level lifestyle content.
Her storytelling contributes to the growing visibility of North African creators in global digital media. By balancing cultural specificity with broad visual appeal, Mayssa shows how lifestyle content can preserve regional nuance while still resonating with international audiences.
14. Chef Dennis Ombachi (Kenya)
Niche: Food, visual storytelling
Real name: Dennis Ombachi
Image: Dennis Ombachi
Chef Dennis Ombachi, also known as The Roaming Chef, blends cooking with cinematic visuals and humour across short-form platforms. His approach elevates food content beyond step-by-step recipes, using pacing, framing, and personality to create highly shareable visual storytelling.
As a self-taught chef, Dennis demonstrates how creativity and presentation can turn everyday cooking into compelling digital media. His work shows how food creators can build global appeal by treating cuisine as both craft and entertainment.
15. Mihlali Ndamase (South Africa)
Niche: Beauty, lifestyle, digital branding
Real name: Mihlali Ndamase
Image: Mihlali Ndamase
Mihlali Ndamase is one of Africa’s most influential beauty and lifestyle creators. By blending makeup artistry with luxury aesthetics and intentional personal branding, she has built a powerful digital presence. Her content projects confidence and aspiration, positioning beauty as both creative expression and cultural statement.
Her career illustrates how digital creators can evolve into full-scale media brands with commercial and cultural influence. By shaping trends and partnerships within the beauty and lifestyle industries, Mihlali represents the shift from influencer visibility to long-term brand building in Africa’s creator economy.
Final Thoughts
African digital creators are no longer peripheral to digital media; they are shaping its future.
For brands and marketers, the opportunity lies in recognising creators not merely as influencers, but as media partners, cultural translators, and community builders.
Effective influencer marketing in Africa requires more than reach. It demands alignment with creators who understand local context, build trust, and deliver long-term value. Brands that collaborate thoughtfully with creators like those featured here stand to unlock authentic engagement and sustained impact across Africa’s digital landscape.
For strategic creator partnerships and influencer marketing built for African audiences, get in touch with our team at hello@whirlspotmedia.com.
