Business
3 young African entrepreneurs to watch
In 2010, the African Leadership Academy and The MasterCard Foundation announced the Anzisha Prize – a pan-African award that scouts and celebrates African entrepreneurs between the ages of 16 and 22 who have implemented entrepreneurial and innovative solutions to key challenges facing their immediate communities.
The word “Anzisha” is taken from the KiSwahili language and roughly translates into “Start it Up.” The Anzisha prize has gained momentum in Africa.
The top 3 finalists of the 2012 Anzisha prize are very young entrepreneurs who could grow to become African business leaders of the future.
1). Andrew Mupuya, Uganda. Founder, YELI
Age: 20
Andrew Mupuya – winner of the 2012 Anzisha prize. PHOTO/Twitter
When his parents became lost their jobs, Mupuya struggled to balance his school fees with the need to support his family.
In 2008, when the Uganda government considered implementing a ban on the use of polythene plastic bags, Mupuya at the age of 16, indentified an opportunity in paper bag production. After he had raised his initial seed capital of 36,000 Ugandan shillings (US$18), Mupuya started making paper bags at a small scale while still in high school.
Mupuya registered his new company in 2010, Youth Entrepreneurial Link Investments (YELI). YELI is now the first local registered paper bag and envelope producing company in Uganda. His business has grown to employ 15 people.
YELI has now produced over half a million paper bags in its four years of operation.
In addition to managing his growing enterprise, Mupuya remains committed to his community and has taken the initiative to train and mentor over 500 young and aspiring entrepreneurs.
2). Diana Mong’are, Kenya. Founder, Planet Green
Age: 18
Diana Mong’are – 1st Runner Up of the 2012 Anzisha prize
Diana Mong’are became tired of the ever-growing trash piles in her community, and decided to do something about it.
Mong’are considered that simply removing the trash once was not a permanent solution. Instead she created a clever sustainable system for keeping her community free of trash and improving the environment.
She set out to raise 10,000 Kenyan Shillings (US$120) from her neighbors, family and friends and used the money to purchase large rolls of black and clear plastic bags.
Mong’are persuaded her neighbors and members of her community to purchase the plastic bags and encouraged them to separate their trash into biodegradable waste and recyclables. She hired a worker to gather the recyclable waste from members of the community and she personally negotiated the sale of the waste to a local recycling company.
With the proceeds from her recycling deals, Diana acquired more plastic bags and became an evangelist for environmental conservation in her community. But she went further still. Her next stop was collecting wood chips and sawdust from small scale furniture makers as well as rotting vegetables from market women and selling them to local poultry and vegetable farmers.
In most African countries, small-scale farmers use sawdust to preserve the storage life of potatoes and other crops. Mong’are realized that these farmers were usually eager and excited to purchase this waste from her. She was in business.
She went on to register Planet Green, a company that mobilizes farmers, carpenters, households, and a local recycling company to reduce waste build up, at a profit. Between February 2012 and now, Diana has succeeded in recruiting 50 families into Planet Green’s recycling initiative. She is also an emerging voice in environmental conservation and sustainability in Africa and she has already started educating local school children on the importance and various methods of environmental conservation.
3). Yaw Duffour-Awuah, Ghana. Founder, Student Aid Plus
Age: 19
Yaw Duffour-Awuah – 2nd Runner Up of the 2012 Anzisha prize
As a high school student, Duffour-Awuah demonstrated a knack for understanding risk and the fortitude to take on risky ventures.
After noticing that several high school classmates were regularly unable to travel home for holidays, Duffour-Awuah saw an opportunity to create a more sustainable system that would benefit more of his peers.
His model was simple: He gathered a small group of friends who became his business partners and pooled capital from all of them. His company would then provide small loans to student borrowers who were in dire financial need, with interest. It was a service that most students inevitably needed at some point or the other, and before long, business blossomed.
Duffour-Awuah renamed Apex Loans to Student Aid Plus, and the company has evolved from a small micro-lending organization to a financial services company which among other things offers financial literacy education to Ghanaian high school students.
The company also has a savings and loan program that helps students pay school fees and provides for upkeep during school sessions.
The company’s financial literacy sessions are led by invited adult professionals and about a hundred student volunteers. Student Aid Plus has 55 shareholders who receive dividends based on their shareholding in the company.
Duffour-Awuah’s short term plans are to grow by launching the business into other high schools and to offer more financial services aimed at youngsters like himself.
Source: Forbes