Davido, Wizkid, Yemi Alade, make Forbes Africa’s 30 under 30 list

Nigerian arts; Davido, Wizkid and Yemi Alade have been named among 27 Nigerians in the latest Forbes Africa’s 30 under-30 list.

Nigerians made up close to one third of the honourees in a list of 90 young entrepreneurs across Africa. They are said to be promising young change-makers recognised in the creative, business, and technology sectors for the year 2018.

“The 2018 Forbes Africa under 30 is our authentic and most definitive list of Africa’s most promising young change-makers. This year is our fourth edition of the list and for the first time, inspired by the growing number of young men and women entrepreneurs, we have expanded it to bring you 30 game-changers, all under the age of 30, in each the three sectors – business, technology and creative. The 90 in total are challenging conventions and rewriting the rules for the next generation of entrepreneurs, creatives and tech gurus,” a statement from Forbes website reads.

Nigerian artistes, actors and actresses, models, filmmakers, and fashion designers were recognised by Forbes as the driving force in the creative industry which includes actor-artiste Folarin ‘Falz’ Falana, Joyce Jacob, founder of Joyce Jacob Beauty, fashion designer Adebayo Oke-Lawal, actress Beverly Naya, Sonia Irabor, and Tania Omotayo.

The business category has eight Nigerians collecting honours. The recognised businessmen and women include Ladipo Lawani, founder, L&L Foods; Emmanuel Ademola Ayilara, 29, founder, LanaWey Investment Limited; Abubakar Sadiq Mohammed Falalu, 28, founder, FalGates and Anita Adetola Adetoye, 26, founder, Anita Brows Beauty. Also under this category, Akinwande Durojaye, 28, founder, JustBrandIt; FixMyRide and co-founder, FueledUp; LashBells; Bidemi Zakariyau, 28, founder, LSF|PR; Kene Rapu, 28, founder, Kene Rapu and Gozie Coker, 29, founder, Coker Creative made the list.

Forbes Africa explains how the list was put together: “We put in months of rigorous research, sifting through over 600 nominations, vetting them for weeks, verifying and investigating them. We favored entrepreneurs with fresh ideas and took into account their business size, revenue, location, potential, struggles, social impact and resilience. A panel of judges then debated the final 90. You may not know many of their names now and they may not be richest people in Africa, but they could be the billionaires of tomorrow gracing our future covers. This compilation is exciting, inspiring and offers a sneak peek into Africa’s future. Meet the class of 2018. The list is in no particular order.”

In the technology sector, Eleven Nigerians are setting the pace across Africa. The honourees include Olaoluwa Samuel-Biyi, 27, co-founder, SureGifts and director, SureRemit; Mahmood Oyewo, 26, co-founder, RubiQube; Chris Kwekowe, 25, & Emerald Kwekowe, 21, founders, Slatecube and Sunkanmi Ola, 22, founder, Syracuse Digital.

Others are Kola Olajide, 26, co-founder, Bridge Labs; Leonard Stiegeler, 29, co-founder, Zanda, Jumia and director, Ringer Africa AG; Timothy Adeleye, 29, founder, Optiweb Communications; Maya Horgan Famodu, 27, founder, Ingressive; Ink Eze, 28, founder, AsoebiBella and Obinna Okwodu, 27, founder, Fibre.