A Kenyan barber who wields a sharpened shovel thrives on Africa’s social media craze

KIAMBU, Kenya — Safari Martins leads his consumer Ian Njenga right into a sparse shack on the agricultural roadside in Kiambu, on the fringe of metropolitan Nairobi. On the shack’s wood partitions grasp a shovel, iron, agricultural shears and a wrench, however Njenga shouldn’t be there to purchase gear. He is there to get a haircut.

“I simply use unconventional instruments,” Martins says, smiling, moments earlier than sliding a razor-sharp shovel edge throughout Njenga’s head, lopping off a swath of hair within the first of a collection of strikes that yields a surprisingly clear haircut.

Unconventional instruments are a trademark for Martins, who’s one among Kenya’s most recognizable barbers with round 1 million followers on every of his Instagram and TikTok accounts, the place he is called Chief Safro.

As he makes precision cuts throughout Njenga’s head, a helper stands to the aspect, capturing each second from totally different angles on a smartphone digicam.

Influencer barbers are a brand new development in Kenya, the place social media utilization has exploded lately and platforms like TikTok are getting used each for leisure and as a profitable aspect hustle.

Born in Rwanda and now primarily based in Nairobi, Martins received his begin barbering in highschool in 2018. Utilizing borrowed clippers, he started providing trims exterior school rooms and in cramped dormitories. 5 years later, he added a digicam and dropped a standard trimmer — and by no means turned again.

Martins went viral for zany barbering strategies, however he has more and more integrated conventional African people tales into voiceovers on his movies.

“I’m motivated by African tradition, by African tales,” he says, including that one among his instruments, a sharpened iron field, was blessed by village elders.

The barber’s endurance has come from the haircuts themselves, which his clients say they love—and the prospect to be featured on one among Kenya’s most magnetic social media accounts.

“If I evaluate him with different barbers his expertise is subsequent degree,” says Njenga, who first visited Martins final yr. “Once I get shaved right here I get very comfy … whereas strolling within the streets I get very assured.”

The draw of a novel barbering expertise and 5 minutes of social media fame is sufficient for patrons to push previous the value. Martins costs as much as 1500 Kenyan shillings, or virtually $12, for one among his cuts, a hefty premium in Nairobi, the place males could pay a tenth of that for a trim.

The recognition of Martins and different content material creator barbers has come amid the breakneck development of social media in Kenya. In January 2023, there have been simply 10.6 million social media customers within the nation, based on DataReportal, a market analysis group. By January 2025, that quantity had elevated virtually 50%, to fifteen.1 million.

With monetization of social media content material usually benchmarked to Western digital promoting charges, discovering success on-line may also deliver a relative windfall to Kenyans. Round 15% of Kenyans engaged in on-line content material creation depend on it as their major supply of earnings, the Kenya Institute for Public Coverage Analysis and Evaluation, a suppose tank, mentioned in a June 2025 temporary.

However, Martins complains that barbers don’t not reap the identical rewards as different content material creators, and he’s proper. A number of the highest-paid creators are those that make gaming, training, or way of life content material, based on Fundmates, an organization that funds influencers, due to the broad applicability of name offers in these niches.

“Barbers get viral on social media however I really feel like they don’t seem to be revered,” says Martins. “You aren’t paid as a content material creator, despite the fact that you have got the views, even you probably have the engagement.”