Kenya’s Tourism Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano hailed the visit by American streaming sensation iShowSpeed, terming it a major boost for the country’s tourism profile.
Miano stated on Sunday that Africa had a unique chance to share its own narrative with the globe thanks to the influencer’s trip to Kenya.
“Today we are hosting iShowSpeed, one of the greatest influencers on YouTube and in social media. We are very grateful to see that Kenyans have come out in their numbers, but this opportunity gives Africa a platform to showcase stories that [are] never told — the beauty of Africa, the people, the culture and our hospitality,” Miano said.
The government had purposefully let Kenyans influence the content creator’s schedule, she continued.
“We’ve had a very, very successful day with iShowSpeed and we let Kenyans determine his schedule. We [are] very happy to show that this [is] truly Magical Kenya — the Origin of Wonder,” she said.
Miano’s comments coincided with Speed’s announcement that Kenya had produced one of the largest single-stream increases in his YouTube career as well as the largest subscriber rise of his whole Africa tour.
Speaking to supporters on Sunday as he left Nairobi National Park, Speed claimed that Kenya’s population increase was unmatched by any other nation he has been to.
“We’re about to hit 47.9 million subs in this stream… no other country has done this. Kenya is number one,” he said.
The livestream attracted over 180,000 concurrent viewers in under two hours, increasing his channel’s subscriber count from 47.72 million to 47.91 million—a gain of almost 200,000 in a single broadcast. The Kenya stop delivered hundreds of thousands of new customers in real time by the end of the day.
From the beginning, Speed’s trip to Kenya was full of viral moments. He began at Upper Hill School, where he spoke with children, trained with the Kenya Rugby team, and connected with world javelin champion Julius Yego. Videos of these interactions quickly went viral on social media.
After that, the tour focused on culture and food, including preparing ugali, shopping at Kenyatta Market for a personalised Kenyan jersey, and tasting nyama choma, kachumbari, and mukimo before going to Carnivore Restaurant.
One of the more popular parts of the broadcast featured Speed feeding giraffes and visiting the Animal Orphanage at Nairobi National Park, followed by a rolling tour of Nairobi’s street culture inside a painted “nganya” matatu.