Business
Nigerian philanthropist Tony Elumelu creates endowment to support The Future Africa Awards prize
Nigerian philanthropist and entrepreneur Tony Elumelu (pictured), has announced the creation of a 5-year endowment of the The Future Africa Awards prizes.
The idea behind the Future Africa Awards is to inspire leadership, and build and continuously develop enterprise and entrepreneurship. In the 7 years since their inception, have produced over 120 winners and 1,200 nominees across the continent.
In 2012, the Future Africa Awards was recognized by the World Bank as “The Nobel Prize for Young Africans”, gained momentum and have partnered with the African Union and Microsoft to help effectively identify and nurture talent.
According to Elumelu, the endowment will in the medium to long term, not only support the sustainability of this important prize, but also encourage up and coming young African leaders, leaders who understand that they have a duty to stimulate Africa’s economic and social development with creative solutions.
The nominees for the 2013 Future Africa Awards prize include:
– Ashish J. Thakkar from Uganda – he is also Africa’s youngest billionaire;
– William Kamkwamba from Malawi – inventor;
– Peter and Paul Okoye (P-Square) from Nigeria – music entrepreneurs;
–Patrick Ngowi from Tanzania – Energy entrepreneur;
– Grace Ihejiamaizu from Nigeria – Social entrepreneur;
– Foglabenchi Lily Haritu from Cameroon – entrepreneur;
– Kariuki Gathitu from Kenya – App developer and entrepreneur;
– Saran Kaba Jones from Liberia – Social entrepreneur and clean water advocate;
– Ludwick Marishane from South Africa – Entrepreneur and South Africa’s youngest patent holder and
– Moctar Dembélé from Burkina Faso – Award winning inventor.