20 year-old Kenyan, Leroy Mwasaru, youngest entrepreneur named on Forbes Africa list

Leroy Mwasaru is just 20 years-old, and was the youngest entrepreneur named on the recently released Forbes Africa 30 under 30 list in the Business category. Leroy founded Greenpact, “a company which produces and distributes affordable and high-quality innovative biogas digester systems to get bio-gas from both agricultural and human refuse,” Forbes Africa magazine reported.

Commenting on being named on the Forbes Africa list, Mwasaru wrote on Twitter,  “Humbled and honored to grace this year’s class of #ForbesAfricaunder30 in the Business category for the work we do with parent company, @Greenpactke. Also as the youngest honoree at 20. The journey continues”.

Leroy started his company after he finished high school. In 2016, he was part of those chosen for the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) programme. According to the foundation, “Leroy Mwasaru started Greenpact when his school faced a problem of a faulty sewer system. The sewer problem polluted nearby sources of domestic water for the neighboring community, sparking a demonstration against the school”.

“In a bid to provide solution to this problem, Leroy and his classmates created a human waste bioreactor that utilized both human and organic waste to produce Biogas and organic fertilizer. Leroy’s prototype currently powers the school and this idea won them the first prize for invention through Innovate Kenya(an idea competition amongst high school students),” the Foundation noted.

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Since winning the Innovate Kenya prize, Leroy has been invited for several programmes outside Kenya, including being an Audi scholar for One Young World. In 2016 he was selected as part of the Harvard Social Innovation Collaborative Global trailblazers, where he represented Kenya at the Igniting Innovations Summit at Harvard University.

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Greenpact has made Leroy a millionaire, and the young entrepreneur hopes to carve a niche in Kenya’s renewable energy sector, and eventually pursue opportunities in east Africa. In a statement on TEF, “Greenpact, by the end of the 2nd quarter of 2019 hope to serve a larger market and explore other forms of renewable energy like solar”. With countries such as Rwanda and Uganda ready to adopt renewable energy, there are boundless opportunities for young innovators on the continent.