Kenyan YouTubers eye millions after incubation

For years, Sebastian Nginda had been making just enough money to keep his YouTube channel running. It bothered him that perhaps he didn't have the Midas touch that has turned other content creators into millionaires.

However, after recently going through an incubation programme that opened his eyes to the ways of unlocking greater value on the platform, he believes his fortunes will soon change.

He forecasts at least a two-fold increase in his earnings on the video-sharing platform before the close of the year.

“With the new focus, the income could double over the next six months seeing as we will also be able to build products around the channel,” states the YouTuber who runs a channel named ‘The Kenyan Entrepreneur’.

On his platform, he shares insights about sustainable business operations gleaned from interviewing different personalities. It has over 12,000 subscribers and a total of 853,048 views from 626 videos uploaded.

The BD Enterprise caught up with Sebastian during his graduation from the YouTube Black Voices Fund last week in Nairobi. Among the 109 participants from across the world, Kenya had 11.

Fresh narratives

Unveiled first in 2020, the YouTube programme is a follow-up to a global multi-year commitment made three years ago to uplift and grow black creators, artists, songwriters and producers through investment in talent and presentation of fresh narratives that emphasise the intellectual power and authenticity of black voices.

During the course of the programme, Sebastian says they were taught how to build their brands, carve out niches, enter brand partnerships and collaborations, and build a business around their content.

Sebastian says he has a total mind shift. One of the invaluable lessons he has learned is on aligning content to the stated purpose of the channel.

“Previously, our channel was one where we spoke about anything and everything. But now we are more focused on a single mandate, which is entrepreneurship and sustainability,” he says.

For Suzan Wahome, another YouTuber who participated in the programme, the increments in her earnings have already started showing.

Suzan who takes pride in attracting more than 126,000 subscribers on her ‘Suzy’s Homestead’ channel through which she seeks to help working mothers learn how to manage and organise their homes, budgets, and get out of debt, says she gained valuable monetisation insights and the efforts are already paying off.

Two years ago, her channel in which she had uploaded only 80 videos, had 25,000 subscribers and the most amount she had fetched then was Sh50,000. She has, to date, uploaded 303 videos.

“I have seen my channel grow. The partner managers taught us how to monetise better with the content we were making. So our income also increased along the journey,” says Suzan without giving specific value increments.

Among other benefits that accrue from the programme include seed funding of between $20,000 (Sh2.8 million) and $50,000 (Sh7 million), merchandise, and joining a community to brainstorm and educate each other on different money-making methods.

The creators say the funding came in handy to enable them to acquire more advanced equipment to improve their content quality and raise production standards.

In his case, Sebastian says part of the money was used to create a full series of social experiments that focused on real-life issues that Africans go through.

The trainees have pledged to train other upcoming YouTubers.

“The community we built, it's not just for us. So we are constantly announcing that if you are a YouTuber, and you want to learn what we know, you can join the group,” says Sebastian.

“Even the person with 100 subscribers, there is something they know that I don't. It's in the collaboration and the willingness to share the information that we will see growth,” he adds.

Rich list

In Kenya, the number of YouTube channels making Sh100,000 or more in revenue is up over 25 percent year-on-year as of December 2022, while only 20 channels have more than 1 million subscribers.

According to the latest report 2022 YouTube Rich List prepared by social media tracking platform CashNet USA, African YouTubers struggle to reach the viewing figures and earnings like in other continents.

Creative Crafts in Five Minutes YouTube channel from Egypt is Africa’s highest-earning channel, with $ 8.7 million of revenue made since its launch in 2017.

Other top earners include Algerian cooking YouTuber Oum Walid ($4.9m) and Nigerian comedian Mark Angel ($4.2m).

Last month content creators cried foul over government plans to impose a 15 percent withholding tax in what they saw as a step that would lock a route to employment in a country struggling with high joblessness.

The State has since reduced it to five percent.

But YouTube is not the only bright spot for talented content creators.

Last week, President William Ruto during a Statehouse meeting with content creators announced that 10 percent of the government’s annual advertising budget, amounting to Sh30 billion, would go to creatives.

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