Wode Maya, is a Ghanaian youtuber and currently, the biggest in Ghana with over 700,000+ subscribers and the most Influential youtuber in Africa. Berthold Kobby Winkler as his real name, hails from Ahenkofi, a town in the outskirt of Takoradi in the Western Region of Ghana.
Wode Maya is a professional Aeronautical Engineer. He did his studies in China and graduated top of his class but decided to venture into YouTube, as he felt, that’s where he belonged.
His whole YouTube journey began in 2014, during his studies in China when he decided to create content base on how Chinese people react when they see black people. He added a bit of comedy and claimed, he was doing the whole YouTube thing for fun until he saw some developments and decided to go full time and do the business aspects of it.
Wode Maya has seen his YouTube channel grow on a rapid space and has gained recognition by some prominent people in Africa, Including the former president of Ghana, J.A Kuffour and the president of The Gambia. His great success and rapid growth is as a result of his Africa To The World Campaign, that he began a few years ago to project and show the good image of Africa and change the narratives about how the world perceive Africa to be deprived, dirty and underdeveloped.
With his campaign, Wode Maya has travelled to more than 17 African countries to project the good image of the continent to the world as it should be. it is his dream to travel to all the 54 countries in Africa, to show the world about the beauty, the diverse cultures and the intelligence of Africans through their developments and achievements. It is to let people know what Africans are capable of achieving. And also, to boost tourism due to the fact that, people are afraid to visit the continent, because of the negative image portrayed by the Western media.
Wode Maya might look small in the eyes of people, but he is mighty due to his influence on those that watch him. He has influenced thousands of people to make their first journey to the continent, especially from the USA, United Kingdom, Canada and all over the world. He is making an impact in the lives of people and changing the mindset and stereotype towards the continent with his campaign. Not only does he influence people to travel, but also, he has helped others with business ideas and guidelines through his high class interviews with prominent CEO’s and business owners all over Africa.
His high quality videos and top notch interviews has solidified his position as the most influential youtuber in Africa due to his impact in the lives of people in the continent and the diaspora as well. He has shown Africa to Africans and the world. He has helped small content creators grow and to join him in the quest to show Africa, and to tell the real story of Africans which he believes he cannot do it alone, but with everyone on board, we can change the narrative about the continent.
The village boy from Ahenkofi, as he claims, has made a name for himself and created a trend for Africans to tell their own stories their own way, and not wait for foreign media’s to come and tell our story for us then complain, when they are inaccurate whith their reports when we can tell our own story.
His recent travel was to Nigeria. He went on to show the Northern part of the country, as some Nigerians who haven’t been to that part of the country were surprised. This was because of how developed and beautiful it is. They claim they have been misinformed about the Northern part of the country and Wode Maya coming from Ghana, has opened their eyes about their own country. Wode Maya’s campaign is not only to change the narrative about Africa to the diaspora’s, but to educate Africans about Africa and open our eyes about our own continent.
He went on to interview people such as the CEO of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing, CEO of Air Peace (Air line), Real Estate owners and business moguls all in Nigeria.
Also, he has rejected deals from Dubai and other countries who wanted to pay him to come and promote their countries and businesses. He said,
I stay committed to promote Africa alone and that’s my main aim. My dream is to see the narrative about Africa bEing changed. It’s not about the money but the passion I have as an African and for Africa.
Wode Maya currently has over 800 videos on his YouTube channel and over a 100 million views on his videos.