YouTube Power List 2019

Home-grown YouTubers are kicking down the doors of video creation one subscriber at a time. The continent’s most creative voices are sharing their stories and creating a culture of fandom that is uniquely African. With more than 400 hours of content uploaded per minute, YouTube has harnessed a worldwide mega audience.

Dayo Olopade, who manages content partnerships for Africa at YouTube, describes the community as the world’s most democratic platform for videos. According to her, the platform has given South African culture global reach. YouTube introduced the world to amazing music talent like Nasty C and animated series like Ramscomics. As more and more producers have started to create content by South Africans, for South Africans, we’re seeing local audiences respond.

‘The creativity we see every day is not just inspiring, it’s global,’ says Olopade. ‘Every month, we are seeing more than 1,9-billion people flocking to YouTube to discover someone else’s world. We’re committed to continuing to build partnerships to empower the next generation of YouTube stars.’

Here, COSMO’s deputy editor Noxolo Mafu rounds up her favourite, most binge-worthy local channels you’ll want to subscribe to now.

The A1

Moyin Oloruntoba (@therealmoyin) Subscribers 11 728+ What does the channel offer?

From celebrity news and interviews to event coverage and red-carpet fashion reviews, The A1 provides you with all you need to know about Celebville. Nigerian-born and Cape Town-raised Moyin has collaborated with local stars such as Maps Maponyane and Moshe Ndiki. With her top-performing video about AKA and Bonang’s former relationship sitting at more than 400 000 views, it’s clear why Moyin is the authority on local entertainment news.

Sushi With Wasabi

George Mnguni and Sasha Langa (@okay_wasabi and @sashsushi) Subscribers 11 696+ What does the channel offer?