Churchill at the event in Johannesburg Photo: Courtesy
Daniel Ndambuki, aka Churchill, Kangai Mwiti and Jim Nduruchi were among Africa’s top artistes honoured in the first ever YouTube Creator Awards held in Johannesburg last week.
Churchill, who is arguably Kenya’s top comedian, scooped the Top Subscribed Creator category in Kenya with subscription to Churchill Live standing at 134,289 followers.
“We are incredibly proud of YouTube for providing a platform that shares Africa’s creativity with the rest of the world. Films from Nollywood along with stories like the one of Olympic medallist Julius Yego show that inspiring talent and stories from anywhere can find a global audience. By holding our first ever YouTube Africa Awards, we hope to celebrate these incredible achievements, while also demonstrating our long-term commitment to the continent,” said YouTube CEO, Susan Wojcicki. Nominees were chosen based on subscriber numbers and how active they were on their channels. There are over 70 channels from Sub Saharan Africa countries that have hit the 100,000-subscriber mark. Participants for the awards were drawn from eight countries in Africa where a YouTube domain is enabled. These are Tanzania, Ghana, Uganda, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Nigeria, and Senegal. “YouTube is about the opportunity for people to express themselves. Creators across Africa are using YouTube to find their voice, connect with audiences around the world and build channels while earning revenue from it. The number of hours of video content in Africa being uploaded has doubled year on year for the past two years.
The audience has also grown with it. Furthermore, watch-time on mobile phones is growing 120 per cent, year over year,” said Dorothy Ooko, Google’s communications and public affairs manager for East and Francophone Africa. However, the high cost of data and the slow processing speed of many phones in Africa often make it challenging for the masses to enjoy watching videos online. Recently YouTube rolled out an offline feature that enables Android and iOS users to save YouTube videos to their device for later consumption.
Kangai Mwiti is a Kenyan makeup artist who owns Bellesa Africa Channel while Jim Nduruchi’s channel focuses on fighting jiggers.
Other East African feted in the evening were Uganda’s Anne Kansiime and Tanzania’s Diamond .
Joining these African YouTube stars on stage was Fena Gitu, the 25-year-old Kenyan singer, songwriter and producer best known for her single, Brikicho. It was a night to reveal the vast talent that exists on the continent as various artistes showcased the various moves that made a mark on YouTube. Tofo Tofo, a dance troupe from Mozambique whose moves inspired American Beyoncé’s song, Who Runs the World (Girls) got a standing ovation from the audience after their awe-inspiring performance.Other East African feted in the evening were Uganda’s Anne Kansiime and Tanzania’s Diamond .
“We are incredibly proud of YouTube for providing a platform that shares Africa’s creativity with the rest of the world. Films from Nollywood along with stories like the one of Olympic medallist Julius Yego show that inspiring talent and stories from anywhere can find a global audience. By holding our first ever YouTube Africa Awards, we hope to celebrate these incredible achievements, while also demonstrating our long-term commitment to the continent,” said YouTube CEO, Susan Wojcicki. Nominees were chosen based on subscriber numbers and how active they were on their channels. There are over 70 channels from Sub Saharan Africa countries that have hit the 100,000-subscriber mark. Participants for the awards were drawn from eight countries in Africa where a YouTube domain is enabled. These are Tanzania, Ghana, Uganda, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Nigeria, and Senegal. “YouTube is about the opportunity for people to express themselves. Creators across Africa are using YouTube to find their voice, connect with audiences around the world and build channels while earning revenue from it. The number of hours of video content in Africa being uploaded has doubled year on year for the past two years.
The audience has also grown with it. Furthermore, watch-time on mobile phones is growing 120 per cent, year over year,” said Dorothy Ooko, Google’s communications and public affairs manager for East and Francophone Africa. However, the high cost of data and the slow processing speed of many phones in Africa often make it challenging for the masses to enjoy watching videos online. Recently YouTube rolled out an offline feature that enables Android and iOS users to save YouTube videos to their device for later consumption.
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