With everything from the longest distance walked on fire to the largest gathering of people dressed as Nelson Mandela, Africans have achieved incredible feats that have earned them a place in Guinness World Records.
In today’s article, we are going to take a closer look at some of the most impressive world record holders from Africa and their incredible achievements.
Wayde Van Niekerk
Today’s fastest 400 metres run by a male athlete is 43.03 seconds, set by Wayde van Niekerk (South Africa) at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 14 August 2016.
His previous record, set by Michael Johnson, dates back to 1999.
In the final, Wayde set a new world record, winning gold in the event.
Fela Kuti
During a 23-year solo career, Fela Kuti recorded 46 albums as a solo artist. His first solo album was recorded in 1969 and his last in 1992.
Kimani Ng’ang’a Maruge
At the age of 84, Kimani Ng’ang’a Maruge was the oldest person in the world to start primary school. Kimani Ng’ang’a Maruge (Kenya) enrolled in Grade 1 at Kapkenduiyo Primary School in Eldoret, Kenya, on 12 January 2004.
Indeed, he even wore the school uniform and hoped to reach the eighth grade. The news came through on 6 April 2004 that Ng’ang’a had passed his first end-of-year exams with A’s in English, Kiswahili and Maths, placing him in the top five pupils in the class. As a reward, the school’s headmistress, Mrs Jane Obinchu (Kenya), appointed him class leader.
Wizkid
A Guinness World Record has been set for Ayo Balogun, better known as Wizkid, for having been
As the first artist to reach one billion streams on Spotify, Ayo Balogun, better known as Wizkid, holds a Guinness World Record. Just over a year ago, Wizkid achieved this with Drake’s One Dance (Canada), which featured him and Kyla, on 16 December 2016.
Chinonso Eche
The highest number of consecutive football touches in one minute while balancing a ball on your head is 133. It is achieved by Chinonso Eche (Nigeria) on the set of Lo Show Dei Record, in Milan, Italy, on 1 February 2023.
He broke his own record of 22 points and dreams of one day becoming a professional footballer.
Stephen Keshi
One of the youngest people to have won the African Cup of Nations as a player and coach is Stephen Keshi (born 31 January 1961 in Nigeria). Although 52 years and 10 days old, he won the tournament as Nigeria’s head coach at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 10 February 2013.
He was captain of the Nigerian national team when he won the tournament as a player in 1994, beating Zambia 2-1 in the final. As a coach, Keshi led his team to glory after a 1-0 victory over Burkina Faso in the final.
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Tuedon Morgan
It took Tuedon Morgan (Nigeria) 62 days 12 h 58 min 49 sec from 8 February 2015 to 12 April 2015 to run the fastest half-marathon on each continent and at the North Pole (women).
Percy Mailela
The world’s largest coffee grounds mosaic (image) measures 25.96 m². It was created by BrainFarm (PTY) Ltd and Percy Maimela (both from South Africa), in Sandton, Gauteng, South Africa, on 12 September 2019.
Represented in the coffee grounds mosaic is the face of DJ Black Coffee, a South African DJ and record producer.
Paul Kehinde
Fazza’s heaviest para powerlifting by a man in the -65kg category is 221kg (487lb 3.5oz), achieved by Paul Kehinde of Nigeria during the 9th Fazza Para Powerlifting World Cup 2018 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on February 19, 2018. It was Kehinde who broke his own world record of 220.5kg, set at the world championships in December 2017.
With only one discipline, the bench press, para powerlifters compete and are ranked according to their weight.
Rema
With his hit single “Calm Down”, the young rapper Rema, signed by Nigerian label Mavin, has climbed to the top of the charts worldwide.
Since his early days, the singer has gone from strength to strength, building an ever-growing fan base and an international reputation.
Calm Down” has almost 388,000,000 streams on Spotify at the time of writing, while its viral remix with American artist Selena Gomez has reached an impressive 717,512,920 streams on the same music platform.
