Nancy Abraham Sumari is a Tanzanian author, business woman, social entrepreneur and beauty pageant titleholder. She is the Managing Director of Bongo5 Media Group (T) Ltd, The Executive Director of The Neghesti Sumari Foundation and The Jenga Hub, as well as a published author of the children's book series, Nyota Yako. In 2017 Africa Youth Awards named her among the 100 Most Influential Young Africans.
Biomass briquettes are a biofuel substitute made of biodegradable green waste with lower emissions of greenhouses gases and carbon dioxide than traditional fuel sources. This fuel source is used as an alternative for harmful biofuels. Briquettes are used for heating, cooking fuel, and electricity generation usually in developing countries that do not have access to more modern fuel sources. Biomass briquettes have become popular in developed countries due to the accessibility, and eco-friendly impact. The briquettes can be used in the developed countries for producing electricity from steam power by heating water in boilers.
Mursik is a traditional fermented milk variant of the Kalenjin people of Kenya. It can be made from cow or goat milk and is fermented in a specially made calabash gourd locally known as a sotet. The gourd is lined with soot from specific trees, such as the African senna, which add flavor to the fermented milk. It is normally consumed with ugali or on its own and is served at room temperature or chilled.
The Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) is an initiative of the United States Department of State. It was started by President Barack Obama in 2010. YALI is a programme aimed at educating and networking young African leaders with activities including the Mandela Washington Fellowship that brings them to study in the United States for six weeks with follow-up resources and student exchange programs. In 2014, the program was expanded to include four regional "leadership centers" in Ghana, Kenya, Senegal and South Africa.
Queen's Young Leader Award was an annual award given in recognition of leadership skills by young persons between the ages of 18 and 29. The award was open to selected Commonwealth of Nations to recognize exceptional people or organizations who are making a difference in improving other citizen's lives. The program was established by the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, in partnership with Comic Relief and the Royal Commonwealth Society. The programme closed in 2019.
Rachel Chebet Ruto is a Kenyan educator currently serving as the First Lady of Kenya. She is the wife of William Ruto, the fifth and current President of Kenya.
Bilikiss Adebiyi or Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola is a Nigerian entrepreneur who founded the Lagos-based recycling company 'Wecyclers'. In 2022 she was the Director General of the Lagos State Records and Archives Bureau (LASRAB) and Managing Director of the Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency (LASPARK). She was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund.
Achenyo Idachaba is an American-born entrepreneur working in Nigeria. She won the Cartier Initiative Award for women in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2014. Her TED talk had over 1.8 million views as of 2020.
Priyanka Bakaya is an Australian-American entrepreneur. She founded PK Clean, a clean energy company which converts plastic waste into new products, and served as its chief executive officer.
Alex Mativo is a Kenyan entrepreneur, innovator, and fashion designer, recognized for his contributions to technology, sustainability, and business in Africa. He is the co-founder of Duck, an AI and data analytics company that provides real-time retail insights to consumer brands, and E-LAB, a company aimed at eradicating electronic waste in Africa by transforming it into products for the fashion and interior design industry. He is also the recipient of the Queen's Young Leaders Award. and Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2024 for his impact in technology and innovation.
Catherine Constantinides is a South African thought leader, environmentalist focused on climate change, food and water security and waste management, a social entrepreneur, social justice activist and human rights defender and beauty pageant titleholder.
Ann Kihengu is a Tanzanian entrepreneur, distributor, and winner of the 2010 Africa Laureate of the Cartier Women's Initiative Awards for her work to replace the use of kerosene lamps by distributing solar lamps and solar phone chargers in Tanzania via a network of young entrepreneurs. Kihengu is also a member of the World Entrepreneurship Forum Think Tank.
Winnifred Kyei Selby is a young Ghanaian social entrepreneur and the president of the EPF Educational Empowerment Initiative based in Kumasi, Ashanti Region of Ghana. She co-founded the Ghana Bamboo Bike Initiative with Bernice Dapaah at the age of 15. And At age 17, she established another business, the Afrocentric Bamboo Initiative. In 2018, she became the first Ghanaian to be inducted into the Royal Institute of Singapore.
Elizabeth Wanjiru Wathuti is a Kenyan environment and climate activist and founder of the Green Generation Initiative, which nurtures young people to love nature and be environmentally conscious at a young age and has now planted 30,000 tree seedlings in Kenya.
Olalekan Sipasi is a Nigerian farmer, entrepreneur and community development rooter with a focus on Sustainable agriculture practice.
Mavis Nduchwa, also known as Rewana Nduchwa, was the founder and CEO of the agribusiness Chabana farms, which also trades as Kalahari Honey. The wife and mother to two beautiful sons born in April 2014 and April 2017 She is a motswana entrepreneur, who is one of the 2020 Jack Ma foundation top 50 Africa Business Heroes finalist.
Charlot Magayi is a Kenyan stove designer, climate activist and an Earthshot Prize winner in 2022. She and her company Mukuru Stoves were awarded a million pounds. Her success led her to be called "Queen of Africa" by William, Prince of Wales.
Lorna Rutto is a Kenyan ecopreneur, and founder of Ecopost, a social enterprise that manufactures fencing posts and other products from recycled plastic waste in offering sustainable jobs to people in marginalized communities and solutions to Kenya's plastic waste challenge.
Yvette Ishimwe is a Rwandan entrepreneur, environmental activist and founder of Iriba Water Group. She is known for transforming Rwanda's water scarcity into business opportunities, benefiting low-income communities.
Kaze Green Economy, or KAGE, is a social enterprise that manufactures wood and charcoal substitutes from biodegradable waste. It has facilities in Gitega and Bujumbura, Burundi.
