Ugandan Short-Form Video Platform Wano Hits 50,000 Downloads

Ugandan short-form video platform Wano has hit a milestone of 50,000 downloads. Founded in 2025 by creative entrepreneur and filmmaker Eilmer Bahri, the platform is designed to elevate and connect creators across Africa and the global African diaspora.

Rather than creating yet another social media platform, Bahri has much bigger ambitions. Wano is building an algorithm that places African cultures, languages, and narratives at the center. 

While global tech platforms often overlook authentic African creativity, Wano is intentionally scaling with African expertise and voices driving its growth.

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What is WANO? 

Creators and viewers can download Wano for free via the App Store or Google Play. You can watch content on the app without signing up for an account. While the user interface is not hugely different from TikTok or YouTube Shorts – a focus on vertical videos with a continuous scrolling feature – the difference in the creators represented and the aesthetics displayed is evident. Wano is designed to look, sound, and feel like the local culture it represents. Instead of seeing content from Paris, London, or New York, Wano features creators from Kampala to Accra, Cape Town to Kingston. The app helps viewers discover local languages, culture, music, and the daily realities of Africa and its diaspora. 

“There are millions of stories being created across Africa and the diaspora every day. The problem isn’t that those stories don’t exist. It’s that the systems deciding what gets discovered weren’t necessarily built around the cultures, languages, communities, or economic realities those stories come from,” Bahri said to Disrupt Africa. “People shouldn’t have to make their lives look more Western, more sensational or more algorithm-friendly before their stories are worth discovering.” 

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Equitable Economics 

One major issue that plagues Black and African creators on big tech platforms is the pay gap. A recent study from MSL Group revealed a racial pay gap in influencer marketing. On average, Black influencers earn 35% less than their white counterparts. African creators earn even less because of low ad rates and limited monetization tools. Despite content creation being a credible career alternative, African creators don’t receive the same opportunities as their Western colleagues. That is where Wano comes in. Bahri and his team are building a platform where African creators are the default, not the exception. They hope to nurture a community and build an audience that Africans can eventually monetize.  

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Building with Africa at the Center 

In its second year operating, Wano is still slowly building out that vision. Bahri has self-funded Wano so far. Although that has meant being mindful of expenses, it has also offered creative freedom to build without investor demands. The platform describes itself as more than an app; it is an ecosystem meant to grow through community, partnerships, and long-term development, not a single viral moment. 

“We’ve also been working directly with creators, including an early effort in Uganda, because I don’t want us making every product decision sitting in the United States and assuming we understand what somebody in Kampala, Soroti, or Accra needs. We’re now beginning conversations with media organizations, universities, creator communities and potential distribution partners across Africa and the diaspora,” Bahri explained. 

Rather than participating in the creator economy, African creatives on Wano can shape it. Their expansion plans include building revenue streams from advertising, content promotion, and commercial partnerships. Eventually, they aim to add creator and media services. 

Wano’s goal is not to replace TikTok or YouTube, but to become the platform people go to when they want to see Africa and its diaspora on its own terms. With 50,000 downloads, the platform is starting to prove there’s real demand for a space built specifically for African creators.

Main image: Content creator shooting a video. Source: Canva.