Google's YouTube has, for the first time, held a YouTube Awards night for vloggers with monetised accounts from Sub-Saharan Africa.
The awards have been held in other regions since 2007, and were started to recognise talent from the YouTube community who were using the platform effectively and harnessing its money-making power.
Teju Ajani from YouTube Partnerships in the region says creators from Africa use YouTube to connect with audiences around the world and build channels while earning revenue.
YouTubers earn money on the network by allowing adverts to be placed on their videos or played before. Vloggers only earn if viewers click on the advert or watch them for more than 30 seconds. Their subscriber numbers do not always correlate with profit.
Ajani says the number of hours of video content being uploaded in Africa has doubled year-over-year for the past two years. At the same time, watch time on mobile phones is growing 120% year-over-year, she says.
YouTube Awards were handed out to 23 creators across 22 categories at an event held in Sandton. Nominees were chosen based on subscriber numbers. Users had to have a minimum of 50 000 subscribers to qualify, and be based and currently residing in one of eight launched countries in Sub-Saharan Africa ? a launched country is one in which monetisation has been enabled. Monetisation is not enabled in all countries globally.
The eight launched countries are Tanzania, Ghana, Uganda, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal. Top non-broadcaster channels were picked from each country.
There are over 70 channels from launched Sub-Saharan African countries that have reached over 100 000 subscribers.
"We're incredibly proud at YouTube to provide a platform that shares Africa's creativity with the rest of the world," says Susan Wojcicki, YouTube CEO.
"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."
Full list of winners:
Broadcaster - Channels Television
Comedy - Kansiime Anne
Comic - Ramscomics and Supastrikas
Education - Retutpro - Photography and Photoshop Tutorials
Entertainment - NdaniTV
Fitness - Six Pack Factory
Games - Slushy AJ
Makeup and fashion - Kangai Mwiti
Music - Yellow Brick Cinema
News and politics - Millard Ayo
Non-profit - Jim Nduruchi
People and Blogs - Suzelle DIY
Pets and animals - Earth Touch
Top Subscribed Creator in Uganda - Kansiime Anne
Top Subscribed Creator in Ghana - OfficialSarkodie
Top Subscribed Creator in Kenya - Churchill Show
Top Subscribed Creator in Nigeria - Mark Angel Comedy
Top Subscribed Creator in Senegal - Prince Arts
Top Subscribed Creator in South Africa - Yellow Brick Cinema
Top Subscribed Creator in Tanzania - DiamondPlatnumz
Top Subscribed Creator in Zimbabwe - Mufti Menk
Top Subscribed Nollywood Channel - IbakaTV/Nollywood
Special mention: Yellow Brick Cinema, which recently reached one million subscribers and was awarded a YouTube Gold Play Button in recognition of the achievement.
Share