20 Africans to inspire you

Patrick Njoroge

When Kenyas president

appointed Njoroge as central
bank governor, he was
relatively unknown. Njoroge
has a PhD in economics and
years of experience working
for the International
Monetary Fund. He has
brought ination under
control and helped stabilise
the shilling, and banks in
Kenya know they must obey
the law

Born to a farmer in
southwestern Nigeria,
agriculture is everything to
Adesina. He rose to
prominence with his work as
Nigerias minister of
agriculture. He sanitised the
sector and made things work,
and his success led to his
appointment as the rst
Nigerian president of the
African Development Bank

Nkosazana DlaminiZuma

Smart and opportunistic,

Kirubi is one of the greatest
Dlamini-Zuma occupies the
top ofce at the African Union inspirations for Kenyans who
Commission, the rst woman want to go into business. He
to do so. Having risen through rose to prominence in the
the ranks in the ANC, she has 1970s when there was a
coffee boom. While he is
become an inspiration to
South African women and has Kenyas second-richest man,
been speaking up for women it is not his wealth that makes
him inspirational, but his
in Africa. She declared 2015
investment acumen
the year of female
empowerment

Chris Kirubi

The Cameroonian
entrepreneur did well in 2015.
The subscription video-ondemand company he
co-founded in 2013,
Afrostream, had a lot of
breakthroughs in the year
after launching. Two years of
hard work nally paid off with
an investment from French
telecommunications giant
Orange. Bakang also signed a
deal with BET France

Mo Abudu

Adii Pienaar

Clarisse Iribagiza

Njeri Rionge

Bilikiss AdebiyiAbiola

Often called Africas answer

to Oprah, Abudu is one of the
most powerful women in
African media, and one of the
25 most powerful women in
global TV. The Nigerian media
entrepreneur and self-taught
TV host is the CEO of
EbonyLife TV, Africas rst
global black entertainment
and lifestyle network

Source: thenerveafrica.com

Akinwumi Adesina

South African Pienaar and his

partners Mark Forrester and
Magnus Jepson saw the need
for slick, professionally
designed WordPress themes
with advanced functionality
after WordPress launched in
2008 with limited themes.
Their hard work paid off and
their company, WooThemes,
hit the big time. Pienaar has a
new start-up called
Receiptful

Iribagiza is the CEO of HeHe

Limited, a leading
mobile-technologies company
she co-founded in 2010. At
27, the computer engineer is
driving Rwandas tech
industry. Over the past ve
years, Iribagiza has been
working with other young
people to build mobile
information systems and
invest in research in mobile
technologies for Africa

The Kenyan serial

entrepreneur is the CEO and
founder of Ignite Consulting
and Investment, and the
director and co-founder of
Wananchi Online, an
affordable and accessible
internet service provider.
Rionge wants to see Africa
developing into the next big
economic miracle and she is
committed to doing her part

Tonj Bakang

This list, compiled by thenerveafrica.com, picks individuals and groups from

the continent who demonstrate that 2016 might be the year of Africa rising

Almaz Ayana

The long-distance runner

showed the world her
brilliance in the 2013 Moscow
world championships and her
winning time at the Diamond
League meeting in Shanghai,
in May, is the third fastest on
record. In August, she won
the World Championship
5 000m with a time of
14:26.83, beating world
record holder and fellow
Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba

Ibukun Awosika

Awosika made history by

becoming the rst woman to
What started as an
be appointed chairperson of
assignment has evolved to
one of Africas largest
become Wecyclers, a social
lenders, First Bank of Nigeria.
enterprise that works with
low-income households using She was nonexecutive
director before her
an incentive-based model to
appointment in September.
tackle widespread waste
She started pursuing her
problems in Lagos, Nigerias
goals at a young age and her
most populous city.
rise to prominence in
Adebiyi-Abiola started
Wecyclers in 2012 and it has business is inspiring to
not nished a year without an African women
award since 2013

Uzodinma Iweala

Tidjane Thiam

Trevor Noah

Monica Musonda

The book Nigerian-American

Iweala wrote at the age of 21,
Beasts of No Nation, was
recently adapted into Netixs
rst original feature lm.
It premiered on the US
on-demand internet
streaming providers network
on October 16 and has been
screened at major
international movie festivals
and nominated for several
awards

When Thiam was appointed

CEO of British life insurance
and nancial services
company Prudential in 2009,
he became the rst black
person to lead a FTSE 100
company. In June, the
Ivorian became the CEO of
Switzerland-based nancial
services company Credit
Suisse. When news of his
appointment spread, the
banks shares soared

Noah is fast becoming one of

Africas best exports thanks
to his exploits as the host of
US news satire TV
programme The Daily Show.
He took over from the
legendary Jon Stewart in
September. His observations
about race and ethnicity are
leading themes in his comedy,
winning him several
accolades

When Musonda left the

Dangote Group in 2012, she
faced an uncertain future in
her new company, Java
Foods, established to provide
affordable nutrition to the
southern African market.
Today, the rapid growth of the
food company proves her
sense of determination. The
entrepreneurs noodles are
now Zambias biggest-selling
brand

Namwali Serpell

Tunisian National
Dialogue Quartet

Samuel Malinga

Chude Jideonwo and

Debola Williams

Serpell, an associate
professor of English at the
University of California,
Berkeley, was the rst
Zambian author to win the
Caine Prize for African ction
in English. After Serpells
historic victory this year,
observers were surprised by
her decision to share the prize
money equally with the four
other short-listed writers

Young, creative and

passionate about his
For its contribution to the
community, Ugandas Malinga
building of a democracy in
is the archetypical African
Tunisia after the Jasmine
innovator. He grew up in the
Revolution in 2011, the
poor Kumi District and in the
quartet made up of the
Naguru slums in Kampala,
Human Rights League, the
where he was faced with the
General Labour Union, the
problem of poor sanitation,
Confederation of Industry,
and so invented low-cost
Trade and Handicrafts, and
the Tunisian Order of Lawyers sewage solutions. Today, he
is one of the most revered
was awarded the 2015
young trailblazers in Africa
Nobel peace prize

To most Nigerian youths,

Jideonwo and Williams are
described as the Moses of the
21st century leading fellow
youths out of a bleak
sociopolitical and
entrepreneurial past. They
started the Future Africa
Awards now in its 10th year
an event that has seen the
spotlight thrown on young
achievers throughout Africa
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