� In an attempt to recognise and promulgate young Africans doing remarkable work in their countries to facilitate development in the lives of people in their communities and throughout the continent, Youth Village Africa has made effort to compile a list of top 30 most Inspirational Young People In Africa. This list identifies young Africans, mostly below 30 years of age, who are prominent in their areas of activism or fields of expertise and are coming up with innovative ways to address some of the challenges faced by the continent.
Kelvin Doe-Sierra Leone
Kelvin Doe (16) is a self-taught engineer from Sierra Leone, West Africa. Out of metal and wire scraps he made a battery to �power lights in people�s houses,� an FM radio transmitter to disseminate news and a generator to power the device. Doe became the youngest invitee to the Visiting Practitioner�s Programme for international development.
Esther Mbabazi- Rwanda
Esther Mbabazi was eight years old when her father was killed in a crash as the plane he was flying in overshot the runway landing in the Democratic Republic of Congo. So when, a few years later she announced her intention to train as a pilot, the plan was not well received by some of her family. But at the age of 24, Mbabazi has made history as the first female Rwandan pilot.
Ludwick Marishane � South Africa
Ludwick Marishane is the founder of Dry Bath, the world�s first germicidal Bath-substituting skin lotion/gel. It is easy to use and needs minimal water for use. Just apply Dry Bath to your skin and you�re done! You no longer need a bath! It moisturises the skin, kills germs, and leaves the user smelling fresh.
Grace Ihejiamaizu � Nigeria
Grace Ihejiamaizu is an entrepreneur and Global Change maker . In 2010, she founded an after-school youth project, Raising Young Productive Entrepreneurs (RYPE) Initiative. Through RYPE, more than 350 young people have been trained, engaged and empowered. Grace�s outstanding leadership skills has earned her some national and international recognition including being named one of Google�s 12 Brightest Young Minds in 2011, and the recognition by US State Department as �International Exchange Alumni Member for the Month for September 2012�. She was also selected as one of the top 60 Global Change Makers in 2012. At only 22 years, she has just started a Social Enterprise company, iKapture Networks, which provides educational services and products to secondary and post-secondary students in Nigeria. She is also the founder and content creator of the fast-growing online platform, opportunitydesk.org, with more than 100,000 visitors monthly from over 160 countries across the world.
Evans Muchika -Kenya
Evans Wadongo is a Kenyan engineer, the Executive Director and Chairman of SDFA-Kenya, and one of CNN�s top ten heroes of 2010. Evans designed a solar lamp which he calls �MwangaBora (Swahili for �Good Light�) in 2004 as a way to address poor education, climate change, health and poverty in rural areas in Kenya.
Bewa Joannie- Benin
Joannie Bewa is currently working as a general practitioner in a community health center in her country BENIN. She holds many leadership positions in BENIN and is well known at global level. She is the co-founder and the Executive director of Young Beninese Leaders Association (YBLA), created after the President OBAMA Young African leaders forum.
Joel Mwale- Uganda
After falling ill with dysentery, Joel Mwale decided to do something about the lack of clean drinking water in his village. With a small bit of money he had saved and the knowledge of physics he had acquired at school, Joel built a borehole on some community farmland. Joel launched Skydrop Enterprises, a producer and bottler of low-cost purified drinking water.
NoViolet Bulawayo- Zimbabwe
In 2011 Boluwayo won the 2011 Caine Prize for African Writing for her short story �Hitting Budapest� it�s a film about a gang of street children in a Zimbabwean shantytown. Her novel entitled We Need New Names was scheduled to be released 21 May 2013, and she has also begun working on a memoir project.
William Kamkwamba- Malawi
William Kamkwamba is a Malawian inventor and author. He rose to fame in his country when he built a windmill to power some electrical appliances in 2002. He used blue gum trees, bicycle parts and some parts collected from the local scrap yard. He later built a solar- powered water pump that was used to supply the 1st drinking water in his village.
Toyosi Akerele- Nigeria
Toyosi is the founder of Nigeria�s first and most prominent youth interest organisation, RISE Networks. She�s a consummate young professional and outstanding Manager. Toyosi is also a Public Speaker, Youth Advocate and Entrepreneur. She was selected as part of 101 young African Leaders to be delegates to the African Business Leaders� Forum. A multiple award winner, �The Best Use of Youth Advocacy Category at the 2008 edition of Nigeria�s Boldest & Brightest Youth Achievement Awards and the Future Awards of which she has been nominated 5 consecutive Years. In 2011, Toyosi was invited as a Consultant and Strategist on the Federal Government Project tagged �Bring Back the Book�, an initiative with the aim to encourage Young Nigerians to cultivate a Reading Culture. She was a finalist for the category of Business Owner of the Year at the 6th Season of The Future Nigeria Awards. Toyosi is a worthy alumnus of the United States Government�s Prestigious International Visitor Leadership Program for emerging African Youth Leaders. Toyosi Akerele was in June 2011 described by Mrs Michelle Obama the First Lady of the United States of America as one of her personal inspirations.
Thulani Madondo- South Africa
Madondo is a founder of the Kliptown Youth Programme (KYP). The organisation provides meals for children, support with school fees, after-school care as well as educational help and tutoring to about 400 disadvantaged children from the Kliptown area.
Fanele Chester- Swaziland
Fanele Chester is an African business development and technology enthusiast. She is a social commentator who has gathered extensive experience in and about African development.
Dayo Israel � Nigeria
Dayo Israel is an astute motivational speaker and advisor to many world leaders, business executives, politicians, young entrepreneur and sports professionals. He is an internationally recognised personality with over 12years of professional experience in international development having worked with organisations such as The United Nations, British Council, Save the Children UK, UNICEF, in various capacities and has appeared on countless television interviews, commercials, talk shows, radio programmes, and was even selected by the United Nations to represent all the young delegates to the UN General Assembly Special Session on Children on a special CNN Live Interview. Recently, He was specially invited by Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh to a private reception at Buckingham palace. He is one of the Africa�s leading authorities on Social Enterprise and Youth Development. He co-launched the UNICEF State of the World Children�s Report in 2003 alongside Carol Bellamy and Oscar Award Winner � Vanessa Redgrave CBE. He is the first African to become a Student Council Chair in London�s Largest University and a recipient of so many International Awards which includes the British Red Cross Humanitarian Citizen Award, PEWA (Person Earnestly Working for Africa) Award, GAB Award, Icon Awards, Icon of Hope Award, Young Achievers Award and many more.
Ory Okolloh-Kenya
Ory Okolloh a Kenyan activist, lawyer, and blogger. She is currently a Policy Manager for Africa with Google. In 2006 she co-founded the parliamentary watchdog site Mzalendo (Patriot).
Gilmore T. Moyo-Zimbabwe
Gilmore T. Moyo is a 23 year old Global Citizen, born and raised in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. He is the Founder & Managing Editor of Deck Magazine and also a member of the British Council Global Change makers International Network.
Deborah Ahenkorah- Ghana
Deborah Ahenkorah is the co-founder and executive director of Golden Baobab which is renowned for its annual Golden Baobab Literary Prize. She created this prize with one mission in mind: to inspire African writers to create stories for young readers.
Kariuki Gathitu- Kenya
Having been in the banking industry, Kariuki saw the difficulties that people have when it comes to payments and especially mobile payments. This led to the birth of MPAYER, his mobile money management system, which has been widely acknowledged.
Duro-Aina Adebola, Akindele Abiola, Faleke Oluwatoyin, and Bello Eniola- Nigeria
At the age of 14 and 15 years old, Four Nigerian students have shown their innovative sides by developing a Urine Powered Generator. The generator produces six hours of power for one litre of urine. They displayed their invention at Maker Faire Africa in Lagos, Nigeria, an annual event meant to showcase ingenuity
Ashish thakkar-Rwanda
Born in the United Kingdom, Ashish and his family moved back to Africa after surviving the historic Rwandan genocide and generational exile of African families. He grew up in the UK and Uganda and now lives in Dubai.In 1996, Ashish borrowed $6,000 to start his first IT Company that�s when he bought and sold computers. Within a year, he transitioned from a high school student to a full time entrepreneur. In a span of 15 years, Ashish J. Thakkar built a conglomerate of IT, real estate and manufacturing companies with operations in 26 countries and employing over 7,000 people worldwide.
Hadeel Ibrahim- Sudan
Hadeel Ibrahim is the founding Executive Director of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, which was established in 2006 to support great African leadership.
Boniface Mwangi- Kenya
Boniface Mwangi is an award winning Kenyan photographer and photo-activist. Boniface is the Project Director of Picha Mtaani, which is a mobile photo exhibition, held in towns across Kenya, showcasing photographs of the post-election violence that rocked various parts of the country in 2007/08.
Others on the list are:
Michael Mulunga- Namibia
Eddy Gicheru Oketch- Kenya
Sandra Appiah-Ghana
Richard Turere- Kenya
Foglabenchi Lily Haritu- Cameroon
Brian Bwesigye- Uganda
Simon Ssenkaayi- Uganda
Erasmus Mweene- Zambia
Fungai Machirori- Zimbabwe
Source: http://www.yvafrica.com/africas-top-30-most-inspirational-young-people/
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