Entrepreneur

Beginning as a contract miner in the 80s managing shafts, Bridgette Radebe harboured bigger dreams. She went on to launch Mmakau Mining, a successful business with interests in gold, platinum, coal, ferrochrome, and uranium assets. As South Africa’s first black female mining entrepreneur and president of the country’s largest mining chamber, the South African Mining [...]

Salwa Akhannouch is an ambitious woman. She ventured into business in 1993 when she established a distribution company for floor laying materials. Her determination and hard work saw her become one of Morocco’s prominent entrepreneurs. Today, Salwa is the head of Akwa Group, a distributor of petroleum products, and the founder of Aksal Group, a [...]

Hajia Bola Shagaya is the founder and CEO of Bolmus Group International – a Nigerian conglomerate which has its fingers in every pie. Oil, real estate, banking, communications – Hajia is certainly a savvy businesswoman who knows where the money is. Oh, she is also involved in photography – her company Fotofair is a leading [...]

Tabitha Karanja’s success story is that of resilience and fortitude. The 51-year-old is the founder and CEO of the only large-scale brewery in Kenya owned by a Kenyan. She launched Keroche Breweries in 1997, initially making fortified wine and later moving into spirits and, from 2008, beer. Tabitha ventured into a territory where a few [...]

Growing up in a small neighbourhood in Addis Ababa, beloved entrepreneur Bethlemen Tilahun Alemu discovered that most people in her community were living in poverty and that some of them possessed artisan skills. Spurred by this realisation, she sought to find a way to translate the skills of her people into a business, and thus [...]

Devine Ndhlukula tackled a male-dominated industry head on, inspiring countless women on the continent to pursue their dreams despite the odds. Divine is the founder and Managing Director of SECURICO, a security company she started in the late 90s in her cottage with four employees and very little capital. Today, SECURICO is one of the [...]

When Sibongile Sambo applied for a flight attendant job with South African Airways, she was rejected as she did not meet the minimum height requirements. Instead of giving up her dream of flying, she started her own aviation business. Today, she is the founder and managing director of SRS Aviation, the first black female-owned aviation [...]

Folorunsho Alakija started her career as a secretary for the now-defunct Merchant Bank of Nigeria. She quit her job in the 80s to study fashion design in England, returning to her native country a few years later to set up Supreme Stitches, a fashion label that catered for elite Nigerian women. Fast forward to 2016 [...]

Isabel do Santos, with an estimated net worth of $3.3 billion, the eldest daughter of Angolan president Jose Eduardo dos Santos is the richest woman on the continent. Isabel accumulated her wealth in oil, diamonds, as well as in the communications and banking sectors. She boasts shareholdings in Portuguese banks and energy firms such as [...]

Njeri Rionge, the Kenyan business magnet started her first business at the age of 19, selling yoghurt at schools in the capital, Nairobi. She went on to sell clothes and run a few other small businesses. Today, Njeri Rionge is one of the women pioneer investors in the IT sector in Africa, having co-founded Wananchi [...]

Elon Musk, a man who needs no introduction. A lethal combination of genius, hard work and dedication to bring a technological revolution, Elon Musk is working to bring radical innovation in transportation both on Earth and in space. Perhaps the most famous entrepreneur from the African continent,  Elon Musk’s success is owed to his innovation [...]

Strive Masiyiwa is a Zimbabwean entrepreneur and founder of Econet, a multinational telecommunications company serving countries across Africa, Europe, and Asia. He is featured on the 2018 Forbes List as one of Africa’s billionaries. He has won numerous accolades and gained international recognition for his business expertise and philanthropy, and is considered one of Africa’s [...]

Tony Elumelu is the chairman of United Bank for Africa and founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, famous for its $5000 USD Entrepreneurship grants given to upcoming startups across the continent. Launched in 2015, The Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme is the largest African philanthropic initiative devoted to entrepreneurship. In 2017, Two ALC Students were selected [...]

Mike Adenuga came up with a plan to found Globacomms which would go on to serve the telecommunications needs of Nigerians and compete with telecommunications giants like MTN Group. Currently, Globacom is worth over $1billion. Adenuga is a Nigerian billionaire businessman, and the second richest person in Nigeria. Read more | Source: Alu Education

Patrick Awuah is a Ghanaian Entrepreneur and founder of Ashesi University, one of the leading universities on the continent. In 2012, Ashesi University was ranked as one of the top ten Most Respected Companies in Ghana, and was the first educational institution to win the award. In the same survey, Patrick Awuah was named the [...]

Ghanaian entrepreneur and leadership development expert, Fred Swaniker is deeply passionate about Africa and believes that the missing ingredient on the continent is good leadership. In line with this, he has founded two organizations that aim to catalyse a new generation of ethical, entrepreneurial African leaders: African Leadership Academy and the African Leadership Network. In [...]

Adenike Ogunlesi, is the founder, CEO, and manufacturer of the Nigerian children’s clothing line called Ruff ‘n’ Tumble. The brand currently has a minimum of 15 stores spread across Nigeria. She started her business in 1996 by selling pajamas in the boot of her car. Her excellent entrepreneurial leadership skills made her secure her place [...]

Ali-Shah Jivraj, a 27 year-old third generation Asian-Ugandan entrepreneur, is one of Africa’s most successful young entrepreneurs. He has founded Royal Electronics, a company that assembles electronics products. It was recorded that the company generated $15Million in 2015. On the heels of his success in the electronics business, Jivraj has further expanded his business endeavors [...]

Teresa Mbagaya, listed as the “30 Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs in Africa” by Forbes and a nominee for the Future Awards Africa “Young Person of the Year”, is a Kenyan Entrepreneur who in the past worked at the education teams at Google and Microsoft. A leader who has a proven career in the private and [...]

Scilla Owusu, at 23, is a Video Director, Producer, Screenwriter, and Founder of Youngtrepreneurs in Ghana. What do Davido, Burna Boy, Sarkodie, Mr Eazi, Patoranking, Diamond Platnumz, Morgan Heritage, Wande Coal and Maleek Berry all have in common? Apart from directing many of Africa’s top music hits, they can attribute the creative success of some [...]

Maryam Gwadabe is 29 and founder and CEO of Blue Sapphire Hub, an Information Technology company in Nigeria. Dressed in a veil and abaya, an attire known to the Huasa tribe of Nigeria, Maryam Gwadabe is not your typical Information Technology guru. Early years Gwadabe is a tech expert passionate about teaching and supporting young [...]

Davies Okeowo, Co-founder and CEO, Enterprise Hill and Competence Africa, is a 29 year old Nigerian, excelling in the Business Development Industry. While in his second year as an undergraduate studying accounting, Davies Okeowo watched an episode of the Donald Trump-produced business reality show, The Apprentice, and it was in that moment he decided that [...]

Anwar Bougroug, 29, is the founder and Creative Director of Bougroug in the Moroccan Fashion industry. Morocco is home to very diverse coasts, remarkable architecture, intricate handmade cultural pieces, and it is also home to a young designer making a name for himself thanks to his innovation and unique vision for fashion. Early years Anwar [...]

Paul Makaya, 26, from Zimbabwe is founder and CEO, Bergast House, a Digital design and marketing company. It’s not easy doing business in a country perennially in an economic crisis. But Paul Makaya is defying the odds in Zimbabwe. Early years With just the $200 he had saved up, Makaya and his friends invested it [...]