The smart way to pay is a good call

The financial sector is going through a major transformation as banks, traders, retailers and consumers reconcile new and more home grown ways to pay for goods and services

The continent’s booming mobile money and financial services sector is giving rise to a new wave of companies setting up to develop solutions that will benefit both consumers and traders.

The banks and credit card companies are also moving fast to embrace the advances of technology that in the future could lead to Africa becoming a cashless society and help large swathes of the unbanked population more easily conduct transactions without the need of a teller.

Pioneering and channelling these new methods of making/accepting payments are two very diverse operations which are located in different countries.

They are fledgling company, South Africa’s Emerge Mobile, which has developed a mobile point of sale solution and Nigeria’s Verve International, an indigenous credit card rivalling the likes of Visa and MasterCard, which was established five years ago and today boasts some 20 million users.

Scoring a first

Emerge Mobile has become the only fully SA-designed, engineered and manufactured end-to-end mobile point of sale (MPOS) solution to attain international accreditation.

It has achieved Payments Council International Payment Terminal Security (PCI-PTS) and Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV) Level 1 and 2 certificates for its MPOS payment card acceptance solution.

Much to the delight of its founder, Managing Director Matt Putman, Emerge Mobile now has an agreement in place with one of the major banks to launch its own brand that will effectively sign up Small and Medium Sized businesses (SMEs) and merchants to the platform.

“We have got discussions on the go with multiple banks across the continent as well as some players in Europe, and while we haven’t completely formalised any of those relationships yet, we are quite far down the line.

“In South Africa we do have an agreement in place with one major bank and we will shortly begin pilot schemes to launch the platform probably around mid-March 2014.”

Compatible solution

The Emerge Mobile MPOS solution consists of an acceptance platform, web portal, native smart phone merchant applications and a hardware adapter that is attached to a smart phone, transforming the phone into a secure mobile payment terminal capable of processing Chip & PIN, and Magstripe card payments.

The solution is compatible with iOS and Android mobile platforms, with additional modules in development.

A unique offering of the solution, and a major competitive differentiator, is its ability to not only accept card payments, but also accept and process payments from third party mobile wallets, and enable the redemption of mobile vouchers and coupons.

Putman’s inspiration for the solution came after he read an article in Fortune Magazine about mobile payments and in particular a company called Square run by Jack Dorsey the founder of Twitter.

He said: “It was the first thing I had ever read about card phones and small merchants being able to accept payment through smartphone devices and it immediately struck a chord with me.

“I thought, if you could get it right in Africa/South Africa it could really help to overcome some of the infrastructure challenges people face.”

By chance, he left the article open and his best friend, Ramsey Daly, who is now EM’s Marketing Director, also saw it.

Team approach

Together they asked Matt’s father Dr Clive Putman, who has more than 30 years’ experience in the security hardware space, to join them and thus the company was born.

Through another friend, Putman was able to win equity funding from Capital Eye Investments, a technology-focused, emerging-market, private equity and venture capital investment business.

The company then worked hard with developers and labs in the UK to ensure its prototype went through some extremely rigorous security testing to help it secure the international accreditation.

Now Putman is hopeful his fledgling operation, which has operations in both Durban and Cape Town and whose 20-strong team is growing monthly, is set for a rosy future.

He said: “We are ambitious in what we would like to achieve and we are buoyed by our achievements to date. We would like to play a very important role in the emerging markets helping to shape ecommerce and mobile payments.

“At some stage we should also like to find a key strategic partner internationally that can help us rescale the business and gain critical mass on our platform within multiple markets.”

Gaining acceptance

Equally hopeful of a bright future is Charles Ifedi, Chief Executive Officer of Verve International, whose company is also on an upwards trajectory as it gains acceptance and expands into new territories.

Ifedi is hoping that 2014 will see Verve match its proliferation in Nigeria within its neighbouring countries of Uganda, Ghana and Gambia.

“I expect other markets to be started, but those are the three I expect to be concluded,” he said. Beyond issuance in those three countries our focus is around acceptance and to make sure Verve cards work in as many countries as possible.”

Last April, Verve International reached an agreement with US-based Discover Financial Services, which is owned by Diners Club, and has acceptance in around 85 territories.

The agreement is that anywhere a Diners Club or Discover card is accepted a Verve card will also be accepted.

Ifedi said: “My take is that there will be a niche that mobile money is going to take and that will be around convenience so Verve in itself also provides convenient mobile solutions for those using our card.

“I hope that by the end of this year, we will be able to tell our people that carrying a Verve card will mean you can use it in the USA, Africa UAE, UK and China. That would be a good future outcome for us.”

From African Business Review

By: Sheree Hanna

Developing An Entrepreneurial Mindset

When does the mind set of an entrepreneur start to develop? In the world of information technology there are many thirteen-year olds who are creating amazing apps and other technologically advanced systems from the seclusion of their bedrooms.

Yet I am of the opinion that it is not the person that develops a certain mind set, but the circumstances around the individual that shapes such.

When I was around 13, my mother encouraged me to stay busy during school holidays and subsequently gave me a packet filled with sweets with the instruction to “go and sell the sweets”. Soon I became known as the sweet guy by the children at school. Because I were not particularly fond of this new nick name I started looking for a better way of selling the sweets; I encouraged one of my friends to start selling the sweets for me. In return I offered him 10 percent of the profit. It did not take long before I moved from sweet selling to sweet management with about 20 friends as part of my sales force.

It was this change from sales to management that defines the moment I started the journey as an entrepreneur.

But how does one develop the entrepreneurial spirit?

There is a common misperception that entrepreneurs are those people who make things happen by acting on impulse. It might look to the average person as if Sir Richard Branson is one crazy business man, but in fact everything he does is born out of careful planning with an objective in mind. Taking calculated risks are part of an entrepreneur’s make up. Yes, entrepreneurs generally have a bigger risk appetite; they know when to take a risk and when not to.

One of the biggest challenges facing entrepreneurs worldwide, but particularly in developing countries such as South Africa, is financial support. The tech environment is a prime example of the chicken-and-egg situation. An investor will not fund an idea which has not worked, but an entreprener needs money to make the idea work. Thus the key lies in the entrepreneurial mindset where one would need to find a midpoint. The entrepreneur dedicates time and takes basic steps to make an idea happen to reduce the risk associated with investments. This action can be a simple thing such as building a user base for whatever the idea might be, showing progress and market adoption rates. Once one has established this user base it will be easier to find a partner who would be willing to invest in one’s business.

Not only are entrepreneurs great risk managers, they are also visionaries. A successful entrepreneur is not motivated by money, but by seeing the vision come together. Take Mark Zuckerberg as an example. He had a vision of connecting his peers who were all students at the same university. As his social media network expanded outside of the university it did not immediately turn into a business. Facebook only started offering advertising when it reached a certain amount of users worldwide. This famous social media network recently bought Whatsapp for $19 billion; a prime example of money follows passion.

I am a firm believer that the entrepreneurial mind is also a creative mind. When an entrepreneur faces a challenge the solution is more often than not a creative one. Steve Jobs once said that one should stop trying to make your product better than that of your competitors; focus on making your product different. Imagine the surprise when someone told Henry Ford they wish they could have faster horses and he presented them with an automobile; it is yet another primary case of entrepreneurship.

As a CEO of an advertising agency I have to admit that managing creatives in our enviroment sometimes feels a bit like herding cats, being creative is not an easy thing because of the abstract and outside the box thinking that is required. However, when entrepreneurs are exposed to enviroments outside their own, their midsets start changing and that’s when creative ideas start flowing to solve complex problems.

Lastly, entrepreneurs realise that having perspective is more important than being smart. Perspective depends not on independence, but is interdependent on other people; other people make the entrepreneur a better thinker.

Do you have what it takes to develop an entrepreneurial mindset? Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you, develop a mutually supporting business relationship and watch your business grow.

From Ventures Africa

By: Zibusiso Mkhwanazi

Billionaire Patrice Motsepe Makes $742m From Landmark BEE Deal

South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe has added over R8bn ($742 million) to his $2.7 billion fortune after his R200m ($19 million) investment in Sanlam’s Ubuntu-Botho BEE deal in 2004 recently matured, adding a return of 45 percent per year for the last 10 years.

The Ubuntu-Botho Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) deal, which came to the end of its 10-year contractual period on 31 December 2013, created value of approximately R15 billion (after debts and interests had been fully settled) from an initial investment of R1.3 billion, making the transaction between Sanlam and Ubunthu-Botho the most successful of its kind in South African history.

“Since the deal was set up, Sanlam’s tight strategy and strong financial performance has seen the Group’s share price rise from R7.65 in 2004 to around R52 today,” said Dr Johan van Zyl, Sanlam Group Chief Executive.

He added that the company “strongly outperformed its peers to deliver consistently strong results which allowed the deal’s value to flourish.”

He lauded Ubuntu-Botho Investments’ contribution towards the performance, noting that it has helped the company remain competitive, “attract and retain employees of the highest calibre and penetrate new parts of the market”.

While starting the project in 2004, Van Zyl and Motsepe personally visited all the nine provinces in South Africa to engage with the various broad-based shareholders, including trade unions (SADTU and NEHAWU), religious groups, entrepreneurs, small and micro business owners, women and youth groups all who would become the beneficiaries of the deal.

Broad-based groups made R3.6 billion from their 25 percent stake in the deal, while the Community Development Trust made R3 billion from its 20 percent.

Chairman of Ubuntu-Botho Investments, Motsepe, who was excited with the success of the deal, reiterated the need for people to be convinced about the benefits of having a successful black middle class and black entrepreneurs.

“We must encourage more black people to start, run and own their own businesses. Our hope is that as many of our beneficiaries as possible will not sell their shares in Ubuntu-Botho but will remain invested to get the long-term benefits of our new partnership with Sanlam,” Motsepe said.

The success recorded in the transaction has encouraged Sanlam and Ubuntu-Botho to renew talks on creating new opportunities for continuing the success of the partnership and ensuring that as many South Africans as possible benefit from it. Details are expected to be announced before the end of 2014.

“Our objective was always to form a long term partnership with Sanlam which would benefit all our stakeholders and make a contribution to the development and growth of our economy,” said Motsepe.

From Ventures Africa

By: Niyi Aderibigbe

The Extravagance Of The African Billionaire

Whether they spend their millions on jet fleets or cemetery plots, Africa’s richest know how to flash their cash.

When hopping on a plane it is understandable that you might carry a few personal belongings with you: a toothbrush or some bed socks, a little cash for incidentals in the airport or in-flight, duty-free shopping. So one can only imagine Christo Wiese’s surprise when he was stopped by customs at Heathrow Airport for carrying what he considered “small change”. Customs confiscated over $1 million in cash, the South African billionaire had bundled into rolls with elastic bands and nestled in his carry-on. A man with a personal fortune worth over $3 billion, complete with a wine estate, five-star hotel and private game reserve, considered this kind of cash “peanuts” – small change indeed.

Africa, a continent home to 80 percent of the world’s population living in poverty, is also the home of some of the world’s wealthiest people. Like their international brethren, despite the struggles of their poor neighbours, the region’s rich have no compunction about flashing their fancy cars, fleets of private jets, tickets to outer space, lavish weddings and exclusive and extravagant real estate.

In late 2008, South African luxury retail magnate, Johann Rupert, was quick to swear that his 22-year-old son Anton was not a “spoilt brat”, despite the young man having just smashed his father’s $1.2-million Ferrari F50 – one of only 349 in the world. Publicly, at least, the billionaire blamed only himself for his son’s error. The car – one of 400 sitting in the billionaire’s private-collection-cum-vintage-car-museum – did need driving to remain in mint condition, Johann Rupert said. “Cars that are not driven regularly suffer irreparable damage,” the tycoon remarked at the time. “The museum cars are therefore driven often.” Rupert senior brushed off his son’s ill-fated joy ride, saying: “I did far worse things at Anton’s age, often involving an Alfa Romeo Giulia Super.” Who knows whether the boy would have received more than a slap on the wrist had he taken out dad’s 2003 supercar Ferrari Enzo or the rare 1931 Austro-Daimler Bergmeister.

While Rupert seems fairly nonchalant about his jam-packed garage, Nigerian self-made businessman, Aliko Dangote, worth a whopping $20.2 billion, might be a bit more territorial about his latest purchase: a $43-million custom-made luxury yacht. The richest man in Africa for the second year running and widely reported as the 43rd highest-grossing billionaire in the world, Dangote paved the way to his billions through his publicly traded cement company, Dangote Cement, which operates in 14 countries on the continent. The yacht, named Mariya after his mother, can often be seen moored alongside Nigerian oil tycoon, Femi Otedola’s almost identical boat – in his case, named Nana after his wife.

AFRICA’S MONOPOLY “MAYFAIR”

If you are on the lookout for Africa’s superrich, Nigeria is the place to start. The capital Abuja is considered the most expensive city in Africa. A four-bedroom duplex in the upscale Maitama district, for example, runs to about $4 million. Nigeria’s vast oil resources and poor infrastructure raise the cost of living in this inland city but so do the tastes of some of its residents. Ferraris, McLarens and Lamborghinis have been seen on its roads, with local bloggers also claiming to have spotted a Bugatti Veyron (the world’s most expensive car at $2.4 million apiece), with a mystery driver behind the wheel.

Recently, well-heeled politicians and senior civil servants have been snapping up real estate in the city’s Goodluck Jonathan District, newly named after the Nigerian president, amid talk that the district will house governmental heavyweights like the Senate president and the speaker of the House of Representatives. Developers have scaled up prices accordingly: a 2,800-square-metre residential plot – undeveloped – now goes for upwards of $5 million.

Not far away on the coast near Lagos, the residents of the Banana Island district, a sliver of reclaimed land aptly named for its shape, enjoy first-world luxuries that elude many Nigerians and then some.

While a four-bedroom apartment can cost as much as $21 million, residents pay for benefits including a 24-hour electricity supply – a privilege found in only one other place in Nigeria: the presidential residence. Other rare conveniences include freshly paved roads and a central sewage system, not to mention a mosque, two watch towers and a banquet hall with seating capacity for 200 guests. The extravagantly landscaped grounds are decorated with statues of frolicking deer and a bull. In 2012, the rare luxury of its premises earned Banana Island the coveted “Mayfair” spot on Lagos’s first Monopoly board.

Among the residents of Banana Island is Mike Adenuga, Nigeria’s newest billionaire, who counts a gilded duplex in the development among seven homes he owns. This is not the only kind of real estate Adenuga has been buying. He recently spent $1.24 million on a burial plot in the Vaults and Gardens cemetery in Ikoyi, Lagos. The sum is typical of the cemetery, where vaults and plots costing millions wait for their super-rich occupants. Adenuga, who built his fortune in banking, oil and telecommunications, reportedly paid the same amount for his sister to be buried here after she passed away in 2009.

Eccentric as this may seem, Adenuga and the other buyers in Vaults and Gardens aren’t the only wealthy Africans to choose an exclusive resting place. Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed, the former owner of Harrods, once announced that he wanted to be mummified and entombed on the roof of the department store when the time came. “There’s a glass studio on the top floor in his private suite,” a long-time friend reputedly said. “It has a glass dome and he said he wanted to be placed beneath that.” The Qatari royal family, which bought the place in 2010 for £1.5 billion, may have other ideas.

HOW WEALTHY WOMEN PREFER TO DO IT

In the coming years, according to the United Nations, most African countries are expected to achieve growth higher than the global average, and the continent’s billionaires are reaping the rewards of this upward trend. The combined fortune of Africa’s 55 billionaires is $143.88 billion. There are three female billionaires in Africa.

Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of the president of Angola, enjoys a net worth of $2.4 billion. Her 2003 wedding to wealthy Congolese art collector, Sindika Dokolo, reportedly cost $4 million. African presidents mingled among the 100 guests, a choir was flown from Belgium and two charter planes full of food made the journey from France. Her 10-year wedding anniversary party this year was no less extravagant. The invitation to celebrate a “decade of passion, a decade of friendship, a decade worth a hundred years” meant three days of extravagance for hundreds of lucky local and European guests, who partied in Luanda and brunched on the swanky Mussulo peninsula.

New luxury apartments owned by dos Santos in the Angolan capital of Luanda, which the Mercer Group this year ranked the world’s most expensive city in which to live, currently stand empty. With rent costing upward of $3,000 a month, most Angolans would struggle to step foot in such a place.

Let’s not forget Folorunsho Alakija, who got her start in the early 1980s when she quit her job as a secretary at a bank to study fashion design in England. The ambitious Nigerian returned home to Africa to set up Supreme Stitches. She picked up an exclusive clientele, made friends in high society and enticed the wives to wear her designer threads. Her brand soon became a household name.

In 1993, Alakija began to dabble in oil exploration, despite having no experience in the industry. Her oil riches today have helped amass her a net worth of $7.3 billion. She gets around in a $46-million private jet and owns a reported five apartments in one of the world’s most expensive apartment blocks, One Hyde Park in London, where penthouses sell for up to $9,350 per square foot.

From Ventures Africa

By: David Nicholson

Youth Entrepreneurship Deficit Spotted In North, Central Africa

Data from this year’s Anzisha Prize applications reveal a potential shortage of young entrepreneurs, particularly women, in North and Central Africa.

While 55 percent of the African youth population between 15 and 24 is female, young women only make up 25 percent of the current Anzisha Prize applicant pool. This follows an aggressive push to reach young entrepreneurs by partnering organizations including Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE). Results however show marginal returns.

North African applications are low despite significantly more awareness campaigns for the Anzisha Prize in the region. Of the 33 Anzisha Prize Fellows selected since 2011, only three are from North Africa and are all young men from Egypt.

“We are hoping that our application data reflects weaknesses in our outreach strategy, rather than the reality on the ground,” comments Josh Adler, Director for the Centre for Entrepreneurial Leadership at the African Leadership Academy. “If our sample is a mirror of youth entrepreneur activity across the continent, then we are sitting with a fairly dire situation for youth venture creation outside of some key hubs.”

“This is a picture that has to change rapidly, and the Anzisha Prize is designed to catalyze this movement. We need to see more meaningful entrepreneur activity amongst teenagers across the continent and within key sectors that we know can create quality jobs and growth.”

The $75,000 Anzisha Prize awards young African entrepreneurs between the ages of 15 and 22 who have started ventures that are making a real impact in their communities.

Past award recipients include Best Ayiorwoth, a young woman from Uganda, who began a small micro-credit services company that invests in and empowers young women in Uganda, and Khaled Shady, inventor of Mubser, a wearable belt for the visually impaired in Egypt. Shady was recently listed by Forbes as amongst the 30 most promising young entrepreneurs under 30.

From Ventures Africa

BY: Ehidiamhen Okpamen

7 Businesses Win African Impact Innovation Fund

Senegal’s Investisseurs & Partenaires, Renew LLC (Ethiopia), M.Lab Africa (Kenya), Policy and Economic Research Council (Tanzania), Doreo Partners (Nigeria), GIMPA Centre for Impact Investing (Ghana) and SliceBiz (Ghana) have been announced as the winners of the Africa Impact Economy Innovations Fund (IEIF), an endowment supported by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Tony Elumelu Foundation to provide grant capital for entrepreneurs with projects that create jobs.

The fund, which was launched in April 2013 at the Africa Impact Investing Forum, also provide support to proposals geared toward enabling capital solutions, fostering entrepreneurial ecosystems and promoting impact investing industry infrastructure.

According to a statement released by the company, the winners were selected from a highly competitive pool applicants from across Africa, and represented several sectors including Finance, Agriculture, Policy & Research and Information Technology.

They were picked by the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) who will play an administrative role to manage the IEIF on behalf of the Tony Elumelu Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Eme Essien Lore, Senior Associate Director at the Rockefeller Foundation, Africa Regional Office confirmed that the business ideas received through the IEIF reflect the extensive entrepreneurial potential that exists in Africa.

“The winners were selected for their work in bridging the gap between African businesses and financing options,” CEO of the Tony Elumelu Foundation Dr. Wiebe Boer added.

Boer who is also part of the GIIN committee said the Foundation(s) are excited to be part of the process of supporting interventions that contribute to sustained economic development across the continent.

Meanwhile, winners of the grant expressed renewed commitment to providing support services to stakeholders with the additional resources at their disposal.

“The IEIF grant will assist us to augment our portfolio of services with improved interventions for social enterprises and enable us increase the potential for success for start-ups that go through our incubation program,” grant winner, John Kieti of M.Lab, Kenya said.

“This funding is by far our most remarkable opportunity to date and we intend to fully leverage the advantages to deliver some key outcomes for the Ghanaian and African start-up ecosystem,” William Senyo the CEO of SliceBiz, another winner from Ghana added.

From Ventures Africa

By: Oluwabusayo Sotunde

30 Under 30: Africa's Best Young Entrepreneurs

Young entrepreneurs are changing the face of Africa. I set out to produce a list of the 30 Africans under 30 years old who are making the most dramatic impact across the continent. To do so, in November  I enlisted an outside panel of 12 judges from across Africa to help identify this group of outstanding entrepreneurs and innovators under the age of 30.

Cut across Real Estate, Financial Services, Manufacturing, Media, Tech, Green tech, Healthcare, Agriculture and Fashion, the 30 young African entrepreneurs, disruptors and innovators featured on this list are impatient to change Africa. Together, they represent the entrepreneurial, innovative and intellectual best of their generation.

They’re solving problems like healthcare and electricity shortages, proffering innovative solutions to waste management, building virtual and physical communities and creating lots of jobs. A few of them are manufacturing the foods we love, designing exquisite clothing for our women and some are developing some cool apps for mobile phones across Africa.

Of course, this list is by no means official or exhaustive, but this is the closest you’ll get to a definitive list.

A round of applause for Africa’s 30 Under 30 – the continent’s best young entrepreneurs, today’s disruptors and tomorrow’s brightest stars:

Jonathan Liebmann, South African

Real Estate developer, CEO of Propertuity

Liebmann, 28, is the Managing Director of Propertuity, a South African Real Estate development company and the brains behind the construction of theMaboneng Precinct, a thriving cultural district in the east side of Johannesburg’s CBD. Once a neglected and deteriorating neighborhood housing abandoned industrial complexes, Liebmann transformed Maboneng into a vibrant urban mixed-use community complete with Art galleries, artist studios, retail spaces, offices and artist studios. Read more about Jonathan Liebmann, Propertuity and Maboneng Precint here.

Patrick Ngowi, Tanzanian

CEO, Helvetic Solar Contractors

Nine years ago, Patrick Ngowi, 28, received a small loan from his mother to start off a business. He started off selling Chinese mobile phones, but when he discovered that a tiny fraction of Tanzanians enjoyed any access to stable and reliable electricity, he knew he had to rectify that problem. Ngowi set upHelvetic Solar Contractors Limited, a company that is a pioneer in the supply, installation and maintenance of solar systems throughout the Northern Circuit of Tanzania. Helvetic Solar Contractors is the first company in the Northern Circuit to cater for Solar needs. The company did about $3 million in revenues last year. Read more about Patrick Ngowi and Helvetic Solar here.

Lorna Rutto, Kenyan

Green Tech Entrepreneur, Founder, EcoPost

Lorna Rutto, 28 is the founder of EcoPost, a profitable social enterprise which manufactures aesthetic, durable and environmentally friendly fencing posts using plastic waste, a more environmentally friendly alternative to timber. EcoPost collects this plastic waste (such as polypropylene and polyethylene) and manufactures fencing posts from it. Rutto has earned international acclaim for her efforts in providing an alternative waste management solution to Kenya’s plastic menace. Read more about Lorna Rutto and Ecopost here.

Justin Stanford, South African

Founder & CEO, 4Di Group

Stanford, 28, is a software entrepreneur and venture capitalist. Seven years ago, he cornered the exclusive and lucrative distribution rights for ESET, a Slovakian anti-virus software package. Today, Stanford’s ESET Southern Africa operates the ESET brand in the region and sells ESET’s range of internet security products in about 20 sub-Saharan countries, recording over $10 million in annual turnover.  He controls about 5% of the anti-virus market in Southern Africa. Stanford is also the founder of 4Di Capital, a Cape Town-based venture capital fund. Read more about Justin Stanford here.

Rapelang Rabana, South African

Founder, Yeigo Communications


Rapelang Rabana, 28 is the CEO and founder of Yeigo Communications, an innovative Cape Town-based company which develops software for telecoms-related services including Voice over IP, Instant messaging, SMS messaging and push email services. In 2008, Telfree, a Swiss mobile telecommunications firm acquired a 51% stake in Yeigo. Read more about Rapelang Rabana here.

Kimiti Wanjaria & Ian Kahara, Kenyan

Founders, Serene Valley Properties

Both in their late 20s, Kimiti Wanjaria and Ian Kahara are part of a group of four co-founders of Serene Valley Properties (SVP), a Real Estate development company in Nairobi that constructs and sells residential properties to Kenya’s ever-growing middle class. SVP is behind the development of Sigona Valley project, a KSh350m (US$4.2m) gated residential community outside Nairobi. Read more about Wanjaria and Kahara here.

Evans Wadongo, Kenyan

Chairman, SDFA Kenya

Wadongo, a 26 year-old Kenyan engineer designed a solar-powered LED lantern called MwangaBora (Swahili for “Good Light”), an invention which is fast replacing smoky kerosene lamps and firelight in rural Kenya. Wadongo has been distributing thousands of these lanterns throughout rural Kenya where there is little or no electricity. His organization, Sustainable Development For All (SDFA) sponsors an empowerment initiative that teaches poor Kenyans how to reproduce these solar lanterns and sell for profit. Read more about Evans Wadongo here.

Ludwick Phofane Marishane, South African

Founder, Headboy Industries

Marishane, 21, is the founder of Headboy Industries, a South African company which developed and owns the patent for Drybath, the world’s first germicidal bath-substituting skin lotion/gel. Read more about Marishane and Headboy Industries here. 

Cosmas Ochieng, Kenyan

Founder, Ecofuels Kenya

Cosmas Ochieng, a 26 year-old Kenyan entrepreneur runs Ecofuels Kenya, an East Africa firm which produces environmentally friendly, green biofuels and organic fertilizers from renewable indigenous sources such as the croton nut.Read more about Ecofuels here.

Eric Muthomi, Kenyan

Founder, Stawi Foods & Fruits

The 26 year-old Kenyan entrepreneur is the founder of Stawi Foods and Fruits, an innovative start-up which procures bananas from smallholder farmers in rural Kenya and processes them into banana flour. Read more about Eric Muthomi and Stawi Foods here.

Joel Mwale, Kenyan

Founder, Skydrop Enterprises

Mwale who is 20 years old runs SkyDrop Enterprises, a rainwater filtration and bottling company which produces low-cost purified drinking water, milk and other dairy products in Kenya. Mwale founded Skydrop in December 2009 and the company now employs over 20 people. Read more about Joel Mwale and Skydrop here.

Verone Mankou, Congolese 

Tech Entrepreneur, Founder & CEO, VMK

Verone Mankou is the founder of VMK, a tech company focused on mobile technologies, specifically in the design, in Africa, of Tablet PCs & Smartphones.  In 2011 VMK presented the Way-C, its first Android Tablet PC. The Way-C retails at USD $300 and is available in the Congo and France. VMK also manufactures an African-themed Android smartphone called Elikia. Mankou is 26. Read more about Mankou and VMK here.

Opeyemi Awoyemi, Olalekan Olude & Ayodeji Adewunmi, Nigerian

Founders, Jobberman

The trio founded Jobberman, Nigeria’s biggest job search engine and aggregator. Jobberman went live in August 2009, and today the site attracts over 50,000 unique users each day. Through simple, yet cutting-edge technology, Jobberman helps link qualified personnel to the right job opportunities. Jobberman is one of the few companies in Nigeria’s tech space that enjoy venture capital backing. Read more about Awoyemi, Olude and Adewunmi and Jobberman here.

Oluwaseun Osewa, Nigerian

Founder, Nairaland

Nigerian geek Oluwaseun Osewa is the founder ofNairaland, Africa’s largest online forum. He founded the site in March 2005 as a general purpose discussion forum with a bias towards issues of interest to Nigerians. The site took off. Nairaland now has close to 1 million registered users and is the most popular Nigerian website today. For perspective: In Nigeria, Nairaland gets more visits than Wikipedia. Nairaland earns its revenue through its ad inventory. Read more about Oluwaseun Osewa and Nairaland here.

Ashley Uys, South African

Founder, Medical Diagnostech

Ashley Uys’ company, Medical Diagnostech develops and markets affordable and reliable medical test kits for malaria, pregnancy, syphilis, malaria, HIV/ Aids for South Africa’s rural poor. The company’s Malaria pf/PAN (pLDH) Test kit can reportedly detect all strains of malaria and indicate within 30 minutes whether the malaria treatment provided is effective. Last November, Medical Diagnostech won $120,000 in prize money at the SAB Foundation 2nd Annual Social Innovation Awards. Uys is 29. Read more about Ashley Uys and Medical Diagnostech here.

Sizwe Nzima, South African

Founder, Iyeza Express

The 21 year-old South African entrepreneur runs Iyeza Express, an innovative enterprise which helps reduce overcrowding at public health facilities by collecting and delivering medication from public clinics and hospitals on bicycles to residents of the Western Cape who are on protracted medication.Read more about Sizwe Nzima and Iyeza here.

William Kamkwamba, Malawian

Inventor

Meet the boy who harnessed the wind. Born in Malawi, William was only 14 years old when he built an electricity-producing windmill from junkyard scraps in order to provide a steady source of water for his family’s farm and village in Masitala Village, Wimbe. With a bicycle dynamo and chain ring, tractor fan, rubber belts and bamboo poles, William succeeded in building a functioning windmill that provided energy for two radios and four light bulbs. Fuelled by the modest success of the initial windmill, William set out to build a larger windmill to help with irrigation for his entire village. Kamkwamba is currently studying for a degree in Environmental studies and Engineering at Dartmouth College in the USA.

Sandra Appiah and Isaac Boateng, Ghanaian

Co-founder, Face2Face Africa

Sandra Appiah, 23 and Isaac Boateng, 28, both Ghanaian nationals are the founders of Face2Face Africa (F2FA), a New York city-based new media company with a mandate to restore Africa’s image within the global community. The company has three divisions: an outfit that publishes a magazine which explores African development, culture, entertainment and fashion, an events business and a thriving website. Read more about Sandra Appiah, Isaac Boateng and Face2Face Africa here. 

Ola Orekunrin, Nigerian

Medical Doctor, Founder, Flying Doctors

A Nigerian healthcare entrepreneur and medical doctor, Orekunrin, 25, is the founder of Flying Doctors Nigeria, West Africa’s first Air Ambulance Service. Flying Doctors Nigeria provides urgent helicopter, airplane ambulance and evacuation services in Nigeria and other countries across West Africa. Read more about Ola Orekunrin here.

Andrew Mupuya, Ugandan

Founder, Youth Entrepreneurial Link Investments (YELI)

In 2008 Andrew raised $18 from family and friends and started making paper bags on a small scale. In 2010 he registered his company, Youth Entrepreneurial Link Investments (YELI), which is now the first locally registered paper bag and Envelope-producing Company in Uganda. The company now employs about 15 Ugandans and YELI is a leading supplier of paper bags and envelopes to local hospitals, retail outlets, roadside sellers and local flour manufacturers. Between 2008 and now, YELI has produced more than half a million paper bags. Andrew Mupunya is 20. Read more about Andrew Mupuya here.

Chude Jideonwo & Adebola Williams, Nigerian

Founders, Red Media/ The Future Project

Jideonwo and Williams are co-founders and Partners of Red Nigeria- a leading full service media-content, communication and Development Company in Nigeria. The firm also owns The Future Project (TFP) – a strategic social enterprise/change communications firm which hosts theannual Future Awards, Nigeria’s most important awards for outstanding young Nigerians.Read more about the duo here.

Mark Kaigwa, Kenyan

Partner, Afrinnovator

Mark Kaigwa, 25 is a multi-talented creative director, filmmaker, digital marketer and entrepreneur. Kaigwa is a co-founder and partner atAfrinnovator, a venture which aims to put Africa on the map by publishing exploits across African innovation, technology and start-ups. He is also Partner at African Digital Art – the web’s leading resource for creative inspiration in animation, illustration, photography and design from Africa. Read more about Mark Kaigwa here.

Arthur Zang, Cameroonian

Inventor

Last year, Arthur Zang, a 25 year-old Cameroonian engineer invented the Cardiopad, a touch screen medical tablet. With the Cardiopad, heart examinations such as the electrocardiogram (ECG) can be performed at remote, rural locations while the results of the test are transferred wirelessly to specialists who can interpret them. The device spares African patients living in remote areas the trouble of having to travel to urban centers to seek medical examinations. The Cardiopad is expected to become commercially available in 2013. Read more about Arthur Zang here.

Thula Sindi, South African

Fashion Entrepreneur, Founder, Thula Sindi

The 28 year-old is one of Southern Africa’s best-known young fashion designers.  After completing his studies at the London International School of Fashion he landed his first job as head designer at Vlisco, a Dutch textile company. He quit shortly afterwards to launch his eponymous self-titled clothing label which designs, manufactures, and markets delicately crafted women’s clothing. Read more about Thula Sindi here.

Farai Gundan, Zimbawean

Founder, Farai Media

The Zimbabwean-born media personality and Internet entrepreneur is the founder of Farai Media, an Africa-focused online mobile and advertising platform. She is also a co-Founder of AfricaTripDeals, a global distribution system for travel to Africa. Read more about her here.

From Forbes.com

Contributor:Mfonobong Nsehe