YouTube Star IShowSpeed Wraps Up 28-Day Africa Tour, Highlighting Continent's Diversity

American streamer and YouTuber IShowSpeed has concluded his 28-day tour of Africa, aimed at showcasing the continent's cultural diversity, often overshadowed by images of poverty and violence. The 20-nation tour across southern, eastern, and North Africa began in Angola in late December.

During the tour, IShowSpeed attended the Africa Cup of Nations soccer final in Morocco, celebrated Senegal's national soccer team's victory with fans, and marked his 21st birthday in Nigeria, where he also reached 50 million YouTube subscribers. "I've done so many incredible things in my life," IShowSpeed said during a stop in Botswana. "But this trip is different. It opened my eyes. Africa is not what I thought."

In Ghana, he tried jollof rice, met a traditional ruler, and received a massage at the shea butter museum. "I am back home, there ain't no better feeling," the content creator, Darren Watkins Jr., said, revealing his ancestry traces back to the West African country. The tour concluded in Namibia.

For his "Speed Does Africa" series, Watkins streamed live on YouTube, showcasing local dishes, traditional dances, and interactions with fans. Pape Seye, a resident of Senegal's capital Dakar, praised Watkins' visit to the House of Slaves on Gorée Island, a symbol of the Atlantic slave trade.

While some Americans have praised the tour for changing their views on Africa, others have been skeptical. Beninese influencer Nelly Mbaa criticized Watkins' exaggerated persona, saying it embodies Western expectations of young Black men being valued for spectacle rather than intellect .