Prolific Kenyan gamer Sylvia “QueenArrow” Gathoni received an email from Twitch a few days ago that changed everything. The platform was ending monetization for all Kenyan streamers, effective September 30, 2025.
“After careful consideration we’ve made the difficult decision to suspend monetization in Kenya,” the email stated. “Recently imposed regulations have restricted our ability to continue offering Twitch monetization opportunities to streamers in Kenya.”
This means Kenyan creators can no longer earn money from subscriptions, bits, or cheers. They can still stream, but they can’t get paid for it.
What Does This Mean for Kenyan Streamers?
For Sylvia, Twitch was more than just a streaming platform. “Twitch is that platform where I got access to the wider world outside of Kenya to build a community that could follow me on my success,” she explained in an exclusive interview with Techweez.
Now that income stream is gone. “Honestly, Twitch wasn’t the best when it came to its payout policies, but at the end of the day, money is still money, and that loss of subs, cheers, and bits is a blow to those of us who were trying to make it through,” Sylvia adds.
The decision hits particularly hard because Kenya’s gaming scene was finally gaining momentum. Streamers had spent years building audiences and were starting to see real financial returns. Now that progress has stopped.
“This is a blow because the loss of income and audience will not be constructive to the growth of the wider African scene,” Sylvia affirmed what many other streamers are feeling.
Why Is Twitch Leaving Kenya?
The reason comes down to Kenya’s Finance Bill 2025 and new digital tax policies. These regulations made it too complicated or expensive for Twitch to continue paying Kenyan creators.
Sylvia, though, wasn’t surprised about this. She understands why Twitch made this choice, even if she doesn’t like the outcome.
“It was a long time coming in my opinion. The Finance Bill 2025 and the digital tax policies that came with it were bound to reach us in the gaming scene. I don’t blame the platform for choosing to pull out. It goes to show how bad governance does not spare anyone.”
Where Do We Go From Here?
Kenyan streamers now face a difficult choice: keep streaming on Twitch without earning money, or move to other platforms that still offer monetization.
Sylvia sees most creators moving to TikTok Live, Kick, and YouTube. But these platforms have their own problems. “TikTok and YouTube don’t have the best monetization policies for the African continent,” she explained.
Her solution is more radical. “Building something of our own is where it’s at because no one is coming to save us. We have to do it for ourselves and by ourselves.”
Twitch’s exit from Kenya indicates a growing problem for African creators. International platforms struggle with local regulations, and when conflicts arise, they often choose to leave rather than adapt.
This leaves African creators dependent on platforms that may not understand their markets or needs. For Sylvia and other Kenyan streamers, the answer might be creating their own solutions rather than waiting for global platforms to work in their favor.
The email from Twitch gave creators until September 30 to sort out final payouts. After that, Kenyan streamers will need to find new ways to monetize their audiences or accept streaming as an unpaid venture.
For a gaming community that was just finding its footing, this is certainly a major setback. But as Sylvia suggests, it might also be the push needed to build something better suited to African creators’ needs.
