South Africa is a vast continent filled with countries, many of which are ripe for YouTube creators to start a major following.
Morocco, for example, has a 71.2% penetration rate, and South Africa’s penetration rate is 56.2% – meaning that over half the population in both nations watches content on YouTube.
Meanwhile, these are the top penetration rates by country in other parts of Africa:
| Country in Africa | YouTube Penetration Rate (as of Oct 2023) |
| Ghana | 32.7% |
| Kenya | 27.8% |
| Nigeria | 23.1% |
With so many viewers at hand, it should come as no surprise that a large community of highly successful African YouTubers has cropped up in response. These inspiring creators span multiple niches, including comedy (MarkAngelComedy and MDM Sketch Comedy), relationship advice (Jessica Os), and travel documentaries (Steven Ndukwu).
In this article, you’ll get to know 23 of the top African YouTubers on the planet. Along the way, you’ll learn what type of content they post that makes them so popular, as well as what makes them unique.
By the end you’ll not only want to subscribe to them ASAP, but you’ll also want to go back and take notes for your own YouTube channel. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!
Here Is Our List of the 23 Best African YouTubers on the Internet:
Check out these diverse and talented African YouTube content creators!
1. MarkAngelComedy
Mark Angel is the scriptwriter and star of MarkAngelComedy, a YouTube channel filled with slapstick gags, funny songs, and shenanigans that are sure to tickle your funny bone. Angel works with multiple other actors, several of whom are his family members. He hails from Nigeria, which is where he also films his content.
2. Noel Deyzel
Noel Deyzel is a professional bodybuilder and personal trainer from South Africa. He uses his channel to show his workouts, provide motivational, exercise, and nutrition advice (particularly for viewers who want to bulk up like he does), and share life updates. In addition to being popular on YouTube, Noel is also famous on TikTok.
3. Wian
Wian Van Den Berg is a South African social media star who became famous by filming his magic tricks. On his YouTube channel, you’ll mostly find compilations of his viral TikToks where he plays magic tricks and pranks in public.
He also teaches his audience how to do “magic” using common household objects, like a Sharpie pen.
4. SamSpedy
SamSpedy is a comedy YouTube channel that is owned and operated by Samuel Asubiojo from Nigeria. He is best known for directing and acting in African Home Life, a series of humorous sketch videos that chronicle the adventures of his fictional character, Ojo and his family.
5. The Kiffness
David Scott, AKA The Kiffness, is a musician from South Africa. Most of his music is satirical and bring awareness to issues, both social and political, in his country. He also creates humorous ditties to accompany viral TikTok videos, such as videos of cats meowing or dogs barking.
6. Official Broda Shaggi
Samuel Perry of Nigeria, better known by his professional name and fictional character, Broda Shaggi, is a YouTube comedian and musician. He generates tons of engagement with his funny skits on YouTube as well as on Instagram. Outside of YouTube, he has a successful “Nollywood” (Nigerian Hollywood) career as an actor and has won two Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards for his efforts.
7. Shalom Blac
Shalom Blac is one of the most famous African American YouTubers on the internet, partly because of her unique origin story. As a child in Nigeria, she suffered third-degree burns that changed her appearance. But rather than letting this hold her back, she used her experience to inspire herself and others to find the beauty in themselves.
Therefore, her YouTube content about beauty, fashion, and lifestyle is not just entertaining and useful – it’s also inspirational.
8. Wode Maya
Kobina Ackon is Wode Maya, a YouTube travel and lifestyle content creator from Ghana. His vlogs depict him traveling all over the world and having adventures, like visiting an African market in Brazil, attending a traditional wedding in Suriname, and meeting DJ Khaled in Barbados. Kobina also holds a degree in aeronautical engineering.
9. MacG
MacG from South Africa is the main host of the Podcast and Chill Network, a YouTube channel that is home to multiple podcast series. Each one focuses on a different niche on a different day of the week; for example, on Mondays, the hosts of Podcast and Chill discuss current affairs with no filter, and on Tuesdays they air an episode about women’s issues.
10. Jessica Os
Ghanian Jessica Os is a former television presenter, a voice actor, and a biker for philanthropic causes. But she’s also a relationship expert; giving advice to men about their relationships with women is the focus of her YouTube content. Her videos help millions of viewers improve their dating life.
11. Diana Bahati
Diana Marua is a singer and a YouTube vlogger who is married to a man named Bahati. The couple is from Kenya, and most of Diana’s YouTube videos center on their life activities with their children. In addition to chronicling their daily lives, they also film important events like birthdays and back to school days, as well as fun social media challenges.
12. MDM Sketch Comedy
MDM Sketch Comedy is the hub for original funny sketches by writer, director, and actor Mthandeni Mahlaba. Mthandeni is from South Africa, and his sketches follow various fictional characters as they navigate humorous and unlikely situations in their home neighborhoods.
13. Lasizwe Dambuza
Lasizwe Dambuza is a television host and social media creator from South Africa. His YouTube content – which takes awkward human behavior and transforms them into funny, relatable skits – has made him one of the most recognizable internet personalities in his home country.
He’s also a well-known television figure, having become the first African host of a reality series on MTV Africa.
14. Dan Mace
Dan Mace is a South African filmmaker and vlogger. He is also the Chief Creative Officer (CCO) of Beast Philanthropy, a nonprofit organization that helps the hungry and lends a hand to other needy causes.
The world-famous YouTuber, MrBeast, is the organization’s original founder, and Dan helps him with this venture as well as documents his own travel and filmmaking adventures.
15. Tayo Aina
Tayo Aina is a Nigerian filmmaker, travel vlogger, and digital storyteller on YouTube. His purpose in creating YouTube videos is to tell interesting stories about the people he meets, the places he visits around the world, and his everyday experiences.
As a result of his hard work and endearing personality, he’s attracted a lot of subscribers who find his content entertaining as well as inspiring.
16. Ghost Hlubi
Khanya Hlubi, AKA Ghost Hlubi, produces entertaining content on YouTube that depicts men and women undergoing relationship challenges, tests, and matchmaking games like “Smash or Pass.” He also frequently posts videos that feature him and his girlfriend and dramatizes their emotional highs and lows.
17. Crazy Kennar
Crazy Kennar is a comedian and social media star from Kenya. His YouTube content consists mainly of short-form videos that are all the funnier for cutting straight to the punch line. He also occasionally performs live comedy shows, his most recent of which was called Happy Country.
18. Leon Gumede
Leon Gumede is a filmmaker, director, and comedic actor. He creates funny sketches on YouTube that cover a variety of humorous topics, including relationships, fails, and social media challenges. Though Leon often works with a small cast of actors, he is typically the main star of each video.
19. Dimma Umeh
Dimma Umeh is a beauty, fashion, and lifestyle YouTuber from Nigeria. Her videos feature her top beauty and hairstyle tips, Get Ready With Me (GRWM) sessions, life updates, travel adventures, shopping hauls, and product recommendations. She also posts “Let’s Chat” videos, in which she tackles hard topics like social media pressure and how to level up your life in your 20s.
20. Eric Okafor
Eric Okafor is Nigeria’s top consumer tech review YouTubers. Viewers return to his channel again and again for his unboxings and in-depth reviews of the newest, trendiest smartphones in the country. His video and sound quality is high, and his opinions are well-rounded and thorough – qualities which have made him a trustworthy expert in his niche.
21. Steven Ndukwu
Steven Ndukwu is a documentary-style filmmaker from Nigeria. His YouTube content gives viewers an inside look at neighborhoods, cities, and rural areas of African countries, highlighting both their beauty and their (sometimes harsh) reality.
As he travels, he interviews people who have made incredible accomplishments in life, such as the founders of South Africa’s biggest beer brand. If you want to get to know Africa better, this is the channel to watch.
22. Xoli Gcabashe
Xoli Gcabashe is a South African beauty and lifestyle vlogger. Her videos focus on her daily activities, from her morning skincare and makeup routine to her newest shopping hauls. She also documents important life events and her travels to other countries, which recently (as of January 2024) included Ghana.
23. Lebogang Leisa
Lebogang Leisa is a popular entertainment YouTube channel in South Africa that’s hosted by a creator of the same name. Together with other actors, Lebogang stages and films pranks in public that his audience finds humorous. Popular pranks that he has played in the past include sneezing on people in public, acting gay to get girls’ numbers, and pretending to be employees at an established business.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the Biggest Black YouTube Creator?
Marques Brownlee is the biggest black YouTube creator in the world with more than 17.4 million subscribers.
Are African YouTubers Famous?
Yes, there are many famous African YouTubers, including all 23 creators on the above list!
Which are the Best Niches to Start an African YouTube Channel?
The best niches to start an African YouTube channel are Comedy, Entertainment, Beauty, Fashion, Lifestyle, and Travel.
