IShowSpeed’s no-show in Tanzania: Learning from a missed opportunity

Michael Mwakilasa has organized numerous high-profile tours for celebrities, particularly African Americans, having curated a special Tanzania visit for Juanita Jordan, the ex-wife of basketball legend Michael Jordan.

The sensational streamer Darren Jason Watkins Jr, popularly known as IShowSpeed’s absence in Tanzania was a shock to many and a disappointment to local content creators who sought to interact with him.

But how could one of the most endowed tourist nations, with the highest mountain in Africa, the world-renowned Zanzibar island and the Serengeti, miss on his to-do list? Mr. Mwakilasa said he was not surprised, “We have an ecosystem that doesn’t do a good job in effective communication.

His visit was cancelled and it was due to poor communication,” he attested. The Citizen couldn’t independently verify Mwakilasa’s claim, but his visit to Africa came months after Tanzania had a general election marred by unprecedented violence and the American embassy still has a level three travel warning on its website.

That would definitely raise concerns for any American wishing to visit the country. Mwakilasa, in his experience, said he has come to the realization that Tanzanians tend to lag on opportunities, oftentimes bureaucracy clogs the brilliant ideas and minds that could have reached decision-makers.

Hence, a lot of initiatives do not reach the ears of the top brass who make day-to-day decisions. His experience in neighboring Kenya, where he does tourism operations as well, was quite different, upon presenting his ideas to some junior staff at their foreign ministry, the next day he was taken to meet the minister.

“Those guys are quick at grabbing opportunities,” he said. “Tanzania is second to Brazil in the world, in terms of the number of tourist attractions; we should have been way ahead of the rest in attracting the largest number of tourists,” he added.

A member of the Diaspora Council of Tanzania in America (DICOTA), he presented a ground-breaking idea to have Tanzanians abroad serving as tourism ambassadors.

“We have a huge population of Tanzanians in Europe, America and the rest of the world. We wanted to use them as ambassadors, but our idea has met roadblocks and it has been hard to get to the executives," he said.

He was in the country during the 2025 Saba Saba exhibitions and spoke to several officials representing the tourism sectors, but none took it upon themselves to take it up to their bosses. “They looked at me like I was begging for a job,” he noted.

“We living abroad have a huge network of people who trust us and we can do a good job to convince them to visit Tanzania,” He said, adding that no amount of publicity will help if we do not change our mindset as Tanzanians; we have to work in unison.

“We have to adapt, unlearn and learn new techniques and ways to promote our tourism in this fast-changing world,” he cautioned.

The 50 million YouTube subscribers milestone speaks volumes in terms of his reach and impact in this digital age.

The Kenyan President publicly welcomed the young American streamer, in Eswatini, the royal family welcomed him, Prince Dlamini and Princess Lomabheka were in tow.

In South Africa, he participated in car spinning and dancing. In Kenya, he interacted with the Maasai tribe. The whole world watched, thinking the Maasai are only in Kenya.

Tanzania’s popular content creator ‘Kiredio’ even joked that Kenyans have ensured the world knows that Maasai are Kenyans. As unbelievable as it may sound, a lot of Americans are still clueless about Africa.

Even with the availability of social media, the internet and artificial intelligence that will have all the information at one’s fingertips, still many of them do not know the reality of life in Africa. This ‘Speed does Africa’ tour will shape the perception of many Americans for decades to come and it has slipped through our fingers.

A lover of football and a fan of Ronaldo, the Portuguese football icon, IShowSpeed’s tour involved a lot of the sensational game that unites Africans.

Countries like Rwanda and Ethiopia didn’t hold back in showcasing to the world what they have to offer.

One can only imagine the possibilities of what he would have done in Tanzania, from hiking or running competition at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro, diving at Forodhani in Zanzibar, or visiting Laetoli, the site where early human footprints were found; the opportunities were endless; the country is vast.

“We shouldn't be stuck with old ways of doing business; we should remain alert to new ways to market our tourism,” Mwakilasa pointed out.

Mwakilasa did erect a booth at Atlanta Fest, a business exhibition held in the city of Atlanta southern America, with attendees exceeding 10,000 people, his booth among other things, was to market Tanzania’s tourism and he interacted with many Americans who have been to the country but most did have a few observations that as a country, he feels we will need to improve one being taking full advantage of influential persons who visit the country.

From Will Smith, the Hollywood actor, to George Clooney, Tanzania has welcomed many superstars with millions of social media followers, but the country has rarely fully taken advantage of these visits to market its tourism attractions.

So far, a few social media posts with local reach have been the strategy, he said. The moments are not celebrated long enough and not publicized to the full extent that would reach the global fans of these celebrities we have accommodated in our country, he pointed out. “Gabriel Union, with her husband, the retired Basketball star Dwyane Wade, visited Zanzibar.

The news made it to American news and celebrity gossip social media frenzy, but it was hardly promoted by our tourism stakeholders, another opportunity not utilized.

Numerous Celebrities frequent Tanzania, but we watch them come and go and it will remain that way unless we take a bold and creative step to use their presence to stimulate tourism, increase visitors, boost social media engagement and raise general awareness of what Tanzania has to offer.

Our abundance should make us comply and lie back, thinking our country will ‘sell itself’. There are neighbouring countries with way fewer tourist attractions that have accumulated impressive revenues from what they have.

With creative brand partnership and bold steps to reach Western audiences with huge potential for visitors. “Saying we have the highest mountain in Africa or the biggest National Park doesn’t cut it anymore,” Mwakisala insisted.

We need highly curated programs for visitors. If you look at IShowSpeed, most countries he visited had created a program to highlight their diverse attractions and selling points.

Tanzania has to organize that for ordinary tourists and these programs have to go beyond the usual Kilimanjaro Mountain or National Parks visits.

Diverging from the norm, from BodaBoda rides or engaging locals in dance challenges, as we saw Speed do, these activities can be implemented in everyday tourism itineraries, even in a city like Dar es Salaam, which will have a direct impact on the local economies of these communities that do not have lions or elephants in their backyards.

“Promoting Tanzania should not be for tour companies alone, or the government for that matter; every Tanzanian should take part in promoting our country,” he said.

“If the President herself took the lead to promote Tanzania’s tourism through the ‘Royal Tour’, everyone else should take that example and follow suit. If she can do it, why can't everyone?” He questioned.

As the country reels from the missed opportunity to engage the world renown streamer, he can take this opportunity to learn and strategize on how we can adapt and implement our tourism marketing drive, waking up to the fact that even with all the natural beauty, national parks and beaches God blessed Tanzania with, without working tirelessly and creatively to tell the world about what we have. We will not achieve the full potential the country possesses.