How African creators actually monetise — when the platforms won't

Lagos has more creators than London — and almost none of them get paid by the platforms

Nigeria has approximately 220 million people, the largest English-speaking population in Africa, and one of the fastest-growing creator economies in the world. Lagos alone has more active YouTubers, TikTokers, and Instagram creators than most major European cities. Nairobi, Accra, Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Cairo each host their own creator scenes — dense, engaged, internationally relevant. African creators routinely build audiences in the millions.

The platforms barely pay any of them. The YouTube Partner Program covers some African countries but the per-stream payouts are a fraction of what US/UK/EU creators receive. TikTok's Creator Rewards Program does not pay out in most of Africa at all. Instagram monetisation tools — Subscriptions, Reels Bonuses, Creator Marketplace — are largely unavailable. X's Creator Revenue Sharing supports almost no African payout markets.

The result is a creator economy that has built audiences at scale and infrastructure that refuses to monetise them at scale. African creators have been working around this for years. Here is what those workarounds actually look like — and what an Shandle changes structurally.

The workaround economy African creators have built

A successful Nigerian YouTuber with 500,000 subscribers does not earn the same as a US YouTuber with 500,000 subscribers. The advertising rates are lower because African ad inventory pays less, and the payout infrastructure for whatever is earned routes through systems that take additional cuts. To make a creator career economically viable, African creators have built a stack of workarounds that have become standard practice in the community.

Brand deals as the primary income. For creators above ~50,000 followers, direct brand sponsorships are the largest income line. Local FMCG brands, telecoms, banks, and financial-services companies pay creators directly for sponsored content. The rates vary widely; the structure is mostly informal.

Affiliate marketing. Creators promote products, courses, and services through affiliate links — earning a percentage of any sale they generate. This works around platform monetisation entirely.

Direct fan payments via Wise, Payoneer, or local mobile money. Creators build audiences and then ask their fans to support them via Wise transfers, Payoneer accounts, or mobile money services like M-Pesa (Kenya) or MoMo (Ghana). This works but is fragmented, country-specific, and adds friction for international fans.

"Send me a DM" merchandising. Creators sell merchandise, courses, and consultations through DMs because formal e-commerce platforms (Shopify, Stripe-based stores) do not work for receiving payments in most African countries.

Setting up a US business entity. A meaningful number of African creators register Delaware or Wyoming LLCs, get a US bank account through services like Mercury, and use that US infrastructure to access Stripe Connect, Patreon payouts, and other platforms that exclude their home countries directly. The setup costs $200-$1,000 and adds tax-compliance complexity.

Each of these workarounds works, partially. None of them works as elegantly as a platform monetisation programme would for a creator who happened to be born in a Stripe-supported country.

The countries excluded most consistently

African creators face the most restrictive country lists across the major platforms:

Nigeria: YouTube Partner Program available but Shorts monetisation more restricted; TikTok Creator Rewards excluded; Instagram monetisation tools largely unavailable; X Creator Revenue Sharing not available for direct payout. Largest English-speaking creator base in Africa, smallest direct platform monetisation access.

Kenya: YouTube Partner Program available; TikTok Creator Rewards excluded; M-Pesa provides a strong domestic mobile-money rail but international payment platforms remain difficult. Substantial creator and influencer base in Nairobi.