Dar es Salaam. It is difficult to discuss the international success of Bongofleva star Diamond Platnumz, 36, without mentioning Davido, 33, from Nigeria, who performed in the country last weekend.
Beyond collaborations and influence across African music, their Instagram followings remain another arena in which their brands are measured.
Diamond, founder of Wasafi Classic Baby (WCB), officially emerged musically with his song Kamwambie in 2009, which lent its name to his debut album released the following year.
He won his first Tanzania Music Award (TMA) as Best Upcoming Artist in 2010, and since then has continued to excel, winning more than 20 TMA awards to date.
After releasing two albums, Diamond sought to break into the international scene, and that was when Davido became central to his musical journey.
Davido, founder of Davido Music Worldwide (DMW), rose to fame with his song Dami Duro (2011), but in Tanzania he gained greater recognition through his hit Aye (2014).
In 2013, Davido performed in the country, and Sallam SK, who facilitated his visit, introduced him to Diamond, leading to the recording of My Number One Remix (2014).
They later travelled to Nigeria to shoot the video, which performed well. It also marked the start of Sallam SK’s role as Diamond’s manager, which he continues to hold.
From that point, Diamond’s name began appearing widely across Africa as he competed for major awards such as the MTV MAMAs for the first time, before winning two MTV EMAs the following year.
These achievements significantly boosted Diamond’s influence. By December 2015, he had become the African musician with the most Instagram followers, overtaking Davido.
It should be remembered that the two stars joined the platform three months apart.
Instagram was launched in October 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, before being acquired by Meta, formerly Facebook.
By December 2015, Diamond, who joined Instagram in July 2012, had reached 1.5 million followers, surpassing Davido, who had 1.4 million since joining in March 2012.
After Diamond and Davido, the musicians with the next largest followings were Wizkid, Don Jazzy and Vanessa Mdee, the Bongofleva star who released her hit Closer (2013) under Bxtra Records, formerly B’Hits Music Group.
By September 2016, however, Davido reclaimed the top spot on Instagram with 2.9 million followers, while Diamond dropped to second with 2.5 million.
At that time, the musicians following them included Don Jazzy, Tiwa Savage, Vanessa Mdee, Alikiba and Yemi Alade, who was discovered through Peak Talent Show 2009 before rising with her hit Johnny (2014).
Currently, Davido remains the African musician with the most Instagram followers at 31.4 million, while Diamond has 18.9 million, ranking third behind Nigeria’s Tiwa Savage.
Given this trajectory, there is little chance for Diamond to overtake Davido again and reclaim Africa’s number one spot on Instagram as he did in 2015.
Davido has already left Diamond behind by more than 13 million followers, while his music continues to exert greater global influence.
While Davido leads in Africa, globally the musician with the most Instagram followers is Selena Gomez from the United States, who also ranks number one among female artists.
Selena, who collaborated with Nigerian Afrobeats star Rema on Calm Down (2022), has 415 million followers since joining Instagram in July 2013.
In short, she has surpassed major global music industry names such as Beyoncé, Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Madonna, Drake, Jennifer Lopez (J.Lo), Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift and 50 Cent.
According to Kepios data, by October 2025 global social media users had reached 5.66 billion.
These users spend an average of 18 hours 36 minutes per week on social platforms, viewing photos and videos on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Facebook.
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