By Julia Austin
These young, forward-thinking entrepreneurs are making
unprecedented changes and improvements to Africa, and people across the
continent are feeling their effects. What’s more, they’re all under 30.
Jonathan Liebmann, South Africa
Real Estate developer, CEO of Propertuity
This 28-year-old is the managing director of Propertuity, a
South African Real Estate development company that headed up the Maboneng
Precinct project, a lively cultural district in Johannesburg. The area used to
be a crime-ridden neighborhood of abandoned industrial buildings, before
Liebmann introduced art galleries, artist studios, retail spaces, offices and
artist studios. He is credited with breathing new life into the neighborhood
-and economy.
Lorna Rutto, Kenya
Green Tech Entrepreneur, Founder, EcoPost
Rutto’s company EcoPost produces environmentally friendly
fencing posts made from recycled plastic waste instead of the standard timber.
The company has received international praise for finding an alternative waste
management solution to Kenya’s major plastic waste problem.
Kimiti Wanjaria & Ian Kahara, Kenya
Founders, Serene Valley Properties
Both Wanjaria and Kahara are in their late 20s, and are half
of a four-person powerhouse of real estate developers. Serene Valley Properties
builds and sells houses to Kenya’s burgeoning middle class and is also the
brains behind the Sigona Valley project, a $4.2-million gated residential
community outside Nairobi.
Evans Wadongo, Kenya
Chairman, Sustainable Development for All, Kenya
Wadongo introduced a safer, cleaner light source when he
made his solar-powered LED lantern, the mwangabora. These are replacing smoky
kerosene lamps and firelight in rural Kenya, and even bringing light to rural
areas that have no electricity. His organization, Sustainable Development for
All, helps fund an initiative that is teaching Kenyans how to make their own
solar lanterns and sell them.
Founder, Ecofuels Kenya
Ochieng’s company Ecofuels Kenya produces environmentally
friendly biofuels as well as organic fertilizers made from renewable local
sources such as the croton nut. Ochieng is 26 years old, and is bringing
international attention to the powerful energy resources in Africa.
Joel Mwale, Kenya
Founder, Skydrop Enterprises
At a shockingly young age of 20, Mwale heads up SkyDrop, a
rainwater filtration and bottling company that offers low-cost purified
drinking water, milk and other dairy products in Kenya. Starting in 2009, today
the company provides jobs to more than 20 people.
Opeyemi Awoyemi, Olalekan Olude & Ayodeji Adewunmi,
Nigeria
Founders, Jobberman
Jobberman is Nigeria’s largest job search engine and
aggregator. Going live in 2009, today the site enjoys more than 50,000 unique
users daily looking to use the simple but innovative technology to job hunt.
Jobberman is one of the few and lucky Nigerian companies to receive venture capital
backing.
Ashley Uys, South Africa
Founder, Medical Diagnostech
Uys’ company is changing the face of South Africa’s medical
community. Medical Diagnostech develops and markets low-cost, dependable
medical test kits for malaria, pregnancy, syphilis and HIV/Aids for South
Africa’s rural communities living in poverty. The company’s Malaria pf/PAN test
kit can reportedly detect all strains of malaria and give results within 30
minutes.
William Kamkwamba, Malawi
Inventor
At the age of 14, Kamkwamba created an electricity-producing
windmill made from junkyard scraps. He built the original product to provide a
reliable water source to his family’s farm, but eventually built a windmill
with a bicycle dynamo, a chain ring, a tractor fan, rubber belts and bamboo
poles that energizes two radios and four light bulbs. Since then, the young inventor
has worked on a windmill to help irrigate his entire village.
Andrew Mupuya, Uganda
Founder, Youth Entrepreneurial Link Investments
Using $18 collected from family and friends, Mupuya started
his career by making paper bags and selling them in his community. In 2010, Mupuya
registered his company and became the owner of the first locally registered
paper-bag and envelope-producing company in Uganda. Today, Youth
Entrepreneurial Link Investments (YELI) provides jobs to around 15 Ugandans and
is the main supplier of paper bags and envelopes to local hospitals, retail
outlets and other businesses.
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