Eswatini tourismOne of the world’s most popular content creators is drawing crowds, especially his young fans, as he embarks on a 20-country 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 gamertag IShowSpeed or simply Speed, who now has more than 48 million YouTube subscribers. He is known for his fast, frenetic and completely unscripted broadcasts that last between three and eleven hours.
African Americans are also moved to see the outpouring of love and respect for their countryman, who turns 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 so that he could become a warrior who protects the king and his family.
Others on social media have dubbed him “Speedani.”
Speed, whose real name is Darren Watkins Jr. was himself briefly overwhelmed by the reaction of people in Angola – the first country he visited – where a fan on the beach recreated a meme of Speed’s ‘my mother’s rather homeless’ face.
“Bro, I’m not gonna lie,” he told the chat – as fans watched and reacted to 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 twenty countries in Africa, including Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Liberia and Ghana.
He plans to see the sights, learn some history, explore the daily life, culture and food, exercise, perform risky stunts, meet fans and lookalikes, meet some tourism ministers – and generally experience who and what comes his way as he speed walks and livestreams.
“I want to show the world what Africa really is,” Speed declared during his stop in South Africa – where he went car spinning, learned some amapiano dance moves and got scratched by a cheetah.
AFP/Getty imagesSome have dismissed the tour as a superficial gimmick, with the streams only benefiting himself.
On the AskAnAfrican Reddit forum, Bakyumu from Niger described the tour as a “fleeting spectacle” from someone who is ultimately an “entertainer”.
Speed started as a gamer and became very famous in 2022, before moving into 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 rant against a female player. He apologized and acknowledged that he was wrong.
He was also once banned from YouTube for a week for allowing his game character to engage in inappropriate sexual activities in full view of viewers.
Speed has built his brand and online persona on over-the-top, boisterous and sometimes aggressive responses.
In addition to barking, backflips and athletic stunts – such as jumping over moving cars – his stock expressions include “What the…” and “Siuuu”, a nod to his football hero Cristiano Ronaldo, which he exclaims out of joy or excitement.
GenZers and younger GenAlphaers love its 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 barking he does,” laughs the 16-year-old, who braved a rain shower to see Speed in action.
In Zambia, Speed plunged into the Devil’s Pool on the edge of the Mosi-oa-Tunya, aka Victoria Falls, and rapped with Zambian hip-hop pioneer Slapdee.
He also got a haircut at a barber in a township in the capital Lusaka – to the delight of thousands of people who flocked there as the news spread on social media.
“He’s just being himself – and it’s so different from the usual heavily scripted and professionally edited videos,” said Chinyama.
A young relative of mine is a big fan of Speed and wanted to tell me why the YouTuber appeals to young people all over the world.
“He’s very funny; he’s very good at doing backflips and he’s very kind. He donates money and 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 Britain.
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I watched the almost four-hour livestream in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, and was especially intrigued by the sometimes chaotic meetings and activities.
Speed, wearing shorts and his signature number seven football shirt – this time in the yellow of Ethiopia – stormed through the city.
He went to the Merkato, the city’s main market, to bargain for a traditional ‘shamma’ or scarf, to the Ethiopian Science Museum, where he crashed a simulator plane, to the Adwa Victory Memorial, where he walked barefoot in honor of the Ethiopian warriors who defeated the Italian forces in 1896.
About that learning the country uses its own Ge’ez calendarhe 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 “eskista” or dancing shoulders.
That was a highlight for 33-year-old hotel manager Yonaiel Tadiwos.
“His energy when it came to interacting with all the dancers was amazing,” Yonaiel told the BBC. He also praised Speed for being “brave enough to try a large quantity of raw meat” – a local delicacy with deep historical roots.
Getty ImagesSpeed’s epic walkabouts were not without mishaps, as in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare.
When Miss Universe Zimbabwe came to greet him, the beauty queen was accidentally overlooked in the chaos of the moment.
Some fans who rushed in to hug Speed and take selfies were quickly thrown to the ground by his security team.
And Speed ended a rare solemn moment in Addis Ababa when he visited Emperor Haile Selassie’s grave – due to a slow internet connection.
Yonaiel, one of the local Ethiopian organizers, was delighted that Speed had involved his country “as many creators do not give us a chance due to misconceptions about Ethiopia”.
But Bakyumu on Reddit is more critical.
“It feels tragic to see the local crowd deifying him because it highlights the desperate need for escapism.
“This is not a meaningful cultural exchange. It is a temporary distraction from systemic misery,” Bakyumu said, referring to issues such as poor housing and unemployment that millions of people in Africa face every day.
But for Yonaiel, the visit had the impact he had hoped for.
“People from all over the world talk about our country and have only positive things to say.”
“We knew we could rewrite the story with even a day of streaming.”
Can one visit from one streamer – no matter how big – change enough perceptions to truly shift global narratives to the African continent?
It’s a start, says Samba Yonga, the mother of Zambian teenager Chinyama.
“Speed has activated an internal compass in many young people – in the diaspora and on the continent – who have been quietly searching for belonging, pride and collective identity.”
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