YouTube star touches hearts in Africa during first tour

One of the world’s most popular content creators has been attracting huge crowds, mostly his young fans, as he undertakes a 20-nation tour of Africa, a continent he says is “full of surprises”.

Pre-teen boys in Rwanda and Ethiopia cried with joy and excitement as they hugged their online hero in real life – known by his gamer tag IShowSpeed or simply Speed, who now has more than 48 million YouTube subscribers. He is famous for his high-tempo, frenetic and totally unscripted broadcasts that last anything from three to 11 hours.

African Americans have also been moved to see the outpouring of love and respect shown to their countryman, who will turn 21 during his “Speed Does Africa” tour.

In Eswatini he was given the name “Logijimako” – meaning “the one who runs” – during an initiation ceremony at a royal palace for him to become a warrior who protects the king and family.

Others on social media have named him “Speedani”.

Speed, whose real name is Darren Watkins Jr, was himself momentarily overwhelmed by the reaction of people in Angola – the first country he visited – where one fan recreated on the beach a meme of Speed’s “my mom’s kinda homeless” face.

“Bro, I’m not going to lie,” he told the chat – the fans watching and commenting on his YouTube livestream.

“I love the love in Africa. The energy here is crazy.”

Over 28 days, he and his team of recording, security and logistics people plan to visit 20 countries in Africa, including Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Liberia and Ghana.

He is planning to see the sights, learn some history, explore daily life, culture and food, play sport, perform high-risk stunts, meet fans and lookalikes, meet some ministers of tourism – and generally experience whoever and whatever comes his way as he speed-walks and livestreams.

“I want to show the world what Africa really is,” Speed declared during his South Africa stop – where he went car-spinning, learned some amapiano dance moves and got scratched by a cheetah.

Some have dismissed the tour as a superficial gimmick – with the streams only benefitting himself.

In the AskAnAfrican Reddit forum, Bakyumu from Niger described the tour as a “fleeting spectacle” by someone who is ultimately an “entertainer”.

Speed started as a gamer, becoming very well-known in 2022, before moving into in-real-life and football content.

His meteoric rise has not been without controversy.

He is permanently banned from all Riot Games’ online tournaments after a sexist tirade against a female player. He apologised and acknowledged he was wrong.

He was also once banned from YouTube for a week for enabling his game character to engage in inappropriate sexual activity in full display of viewers.

Speed has built his brand and online persona on over-the-top, boisterous and sometimes aggressive reactions.

As well as barking, back flips and athletic stunts – like jumping over moving cars – his stock phrases include “What the…” and “Siuuu”, a nod to his footballing hero Cristiano Ronaldo, which he shouts out in celebration or excitement.

GenZ-ers and the younger GenAlpha-ers love his raw, uncensored content – where almost anything can and sometimes does happen live on air.

“I really enjoy the kind of energy he has and the things he does,” Zambian fan Chinyama Yonga told the BBC.

“Even the weird barks that he does,” laughs the 16-year-old, who braved a rainstorm to see Speed in action.

In Zambia, Speed plunged in the Devil’s Pool on the very edge of the Mosi-oa-Tunya, or Victoria Falls, and rapped with Zambian hip-hop pioneer Slapdee.

He also got a haircut at a barbers in a township in the capital, Lusaka – to the delight of thousands of people who flocked there as news spread on social media.

“He is just himself – and it’s so different to the usual heavily scripted and professionally edited videos,” Chinyama said.

A young relative of mine is a huge fan of Speed and was keen to tell me why the YouTuber appeals to youngsters around the world.

“He’s really funny; he’s really good at doing backflips and he’s really kind. He donates money and he goes out of his way to help people who are in trouble,” said Henry Dale, who is 11 years old, and goes to school in the UK.

I watched the almost four-hour long livestream in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, and was mostly intrigued by the sometimes chaotic encounters and activities.

Speed, dressed in shorts and his trademark number seven football shirt – this time in the yellow of Ethiopia – dashed around the city.

He went to the Merkato, the city’s main market, to haggle for a traditional “shamma” or shawl, to the Ethiopian Science Museum, where he crashed a simulator plane, to the Adwa Victory Memorial, where he walked barefoot to honour the Ethiopian warriors who defeated Italian forces in 1896.

On learning that the country uses its own Ge’ez calendar, he exclaimed: “Wait! It’s… 2018. I’m only 13? Ronaldo is still at Real Madrid?”

Speed also danced with traditional dancers, known for their energetic, fast-paced “eskista” or dancing shoulders.

That was a standout moment for 33-year-old hotel manager Yonaiel Tadiwos.

“His energy when it came to engaging with all dancers was amazing,” Yonaiel told the BBC. He also praised Speed for being “bold enough to try a large amount of raw meat” – a local delicacy with deep historical roots.

The Speed epic walkabouts have not been without mishaps, like in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare.

When Miss Universe Zimbabwe came out to greet him, the beauty queen was accidentally overlooked in the chaos of the moment.

Some fans who have rushed in to hug and take selfies with Speed have been swiftly thrown to the ground by his security team.

And Speed cut short a rare solemn moment in Addis Ababa when he was visiting the tomb of the Emperor Haile Selassie – because of the internet connection lagging.

Yonaiel, one of the Ethiopian local organisers, was delighted that Speed included his country “as many creators don’t give us a chance due to misperceptions about Ethiopia”.

But Bakyumu on Reddit is more critical.

“Seeing the local crowds deify him feels tragic because it highlights a desperate need for escapism.

“This isn’t meaningful cultural exchange. It is a momentary distraction from systemic misery,” Bakyumu says, referring to things like poor housing and unemployment that millions in Africa deal with every day.

But for Yonaiel, the visit has had the impact that he had hoped for.

“People from across the world are talking about our country with only positive things to say.”

“We knew we could rewrite the narrative with even just a day of streaming.”

Can one visit by one streamer – no matter how big – change enough perceptions to really shift global narratives towards the continent of Africa?

It is a start, said Samba Yonga, the mother of Zambian teenager Chinyama.

“Speed has activated an internal compass in many young people – across the diaspora and on the continent – who have been quietly searching for belonging, pride and collective identity.”