Food content creator Trevor Were among those named on TikTok’s Global Discover List

When TikTok unveiled its Global Discover List 2026, the diversity of African names on it stood out. A medical doctor from Lagos.

Two self-taught chefs from Nairobi and Cape Town. Two young founders building design and fashion businesses from Kenya and South Africa.

Different careers, different cities, different audiences, yet all recognised on the same global list of 50 creators shaping culture worldwide.

At first glance, their inclusion seems unlikely. Look closer, however, and a clearer picture emerges: usefulness, consistency and the ability to turn everyday expertise into global value.

The Global Discover List spans categories from Educators and Foodies to Originators. What unites the five Sub-Saharan African creators is not fame, but function.

For Lagos-based medical doctor Olawale Ogunlana, TikTok became a classroom. His short videos simplify complex health topics for everyday audiences, extending medical education far beyond the clinic.

Thousands of kilometres away, two chefs were building audiences from their home kitchens.

Nairobi’s Trevor Were and Cape Town’s Wayne Chang did not arrive through restaurant empires or television deals.

Instead, they filmed practical, approachable cooking content that travelled well beyond their local audiences.

Food proved to be one of the fastest routes to global relevance. Both chefs were invited to cook live in New York City at a TikTok and Food Network event celebrating emerging culinary voices.

For Chang, the recognition was about community rather than status.

“Getting the opportunity to be surrounded by foodies who all want to share their craft and passion to the world, that’s what it’s all about,” he said.

Were’s journey carried a quieter but powerful message.

“I never imagined that something that started on my kitchen counter could grow into such incredible opportunities,” he reflected, adding that global recognition made him feel “seen and recognised not just by my fellow Kenyans, but by people around the world.”

The two originators on the list, Cherie Kihato and Tamia Nontsikelelo, used TikTok not as advertising space but as a storytelling tool.

Kihato, founder of Nairobi-based design studio Savannah Space, shared the realities of building an African brand openly online.

“Being nominated as an Originator proves to me that the risk I took in sharing my journey of building an African brand is resonating,” she said.

In Johannesburg, fashion entrepreneur Tamia Nontsikelelo documented the growth of her modest fashion label from the ground up.

“TikTok quite literally blew up my small business and became the single most effective marketing tool I have ever used,” she noted, crediting the platform with helping her scale and create jobs.