The Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 List features 120 of Africa’s brightest achievers under the age of 30 in four categories: business, technology, creatives and sport. The list celebrates pioneers who are building brands, creating jobs, innovating, leading, transforming and contributing to new industries and ultimately impacting positively on the continent.
Entrepreneurship
Lifestyle A four-seater plane, built and piloted by teen students is on a Cape-to-Cairo flight
South African teenagers will attempt to fly across the continent on a four-seater Sling 4 plane that was assembled by a group of 20 students from a kit manufactured in South Africa by the Airplane Factory. The teens have already made a successful flight to their first stop in Namibia.
Africans rising Prepclass is the entrepreneurial story of trying until you succeed
Entrepreneurship is difficult even when a concept is sound. Many entrepreneurs have had to pivot and make a fundamental change to their business if their product or service failed to meet the needs of the intended market. This is the tactic that Obanor Chukwuwezam and Ogunlana Olumide, the co-founders of Prepclass, had to employ to make their company thrive.
Africans rising Kofo Akinkugbe, head of sub-Saharan Africa’s first certified smart card manufacturing plant
Kofo Akinkugbe is the founder and CEO of SecureID Nigeria Ltd, a market leader in smart card technology and digital security. The company is a world-class manufacturing facility with the only smart card production plant in West Africa and is one of only six on the continent.
Africans rising Smart Havens Africa is using eco-friendly technologies to provide affordable housing
The Ugandan social enterprise Smart Havens Africa is helping vulnerable communities acquire homes affordably and sustainably. In this way, founder Anne Rweyora, one of the engineers short-listed for the fifth Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, hopes to bring down housing poverty.
Africans rising Online platform Kaoshi, shortlisted for the 2019 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation
Money transfer platform Kaoshi was one of the technologies shortlisted for the fifth Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation is tackling the broken system of international money transfer. The shortlist, which covered six countries, included this easy and secure online platform that exchanges currencies peer to peer, instead of through banks. This cuts costs and waiting times.
Politics and Society Disenfranchised women are lighting up the remote villages of Zanzibar
Women aged between 35 and 55, many of whom have never learned to read or write, are among those being trained as community solar engineers for a project that brings electricity to rural villages on the islands of Zanzibar.
Africans rising First South African innovation wins the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation
A 31-year-old South African electrical engineer has won the Royal Academy of Engineering’s 2019 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation. Neo Hutiri is the first South African to win the prestigious Africa Prize.
Africans rising Tech startups selected for third Google Launchpad Africa accelerator
Twelve tech startups have been selected for the third Google Launchpad Africa accelerator. The three-month programme connects startups from around the world with Google staff, networks, methodologies and technologies, and has worked with market leaders in over 40 countries.