Kennedy Ekezie

Last updated
Kennedy Ekezie-Joseph
A portrait shot of Kennedy Ekezie-Joseph.jpg
Born (1998-06-11) 11 June 1998 (age 27)
Lagos, Nigeria
Alma mater
OccupationEntrepreneur
Years active2014-present
Known forfounding Kippa
Awards

Kennedy Ekezie-Joseph (born 11 June 1998) is a Nigerian-born entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and current chief executive officer of Kippa.

Contents

In November 2023, Ekezie was listed on the 2024 Forbes 30 under 30 list (North America) in the Finance category. [1]

Early life and education

Ekezie, originally from Ehime Mbano in Imo State, was born in Lagos where he lived for 8 years with his family before his parents relocated to Calabar after they secured jobs there. [2] In 2017, Ekezie graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with honours in philosophy from the University of Calabar and subsequently won a Yenching Scholarship in 2018 to study for a master's degree in Economics and Management at Peking University. [3] He also holds a diploma in Leading Change from the University of Cambridge. [4]

Career

In 2014, at age 16 while studying, Ekezie founded Calabar Youths Council For Women's Rights; an organization he founded to promote women's rights after he discovered that more than 8,000 women are victims of female genital mutilation in Nigeria. [5]

In 2021, he co-founded Kippa. [6] Prior to that, he also worked at ByteDance while on a Yenching Scholarship at Peking University in China. [2] Ekezie has been credited as part of the team that led TikTok into Africa. [7]

Recognitions and awards

In 2017, Ekezie was selected as one of the 30 Global Teen Leaders by the We Are Family Foundation and received President Obama’s Young African Leaders Fellowship. [8] [9] In 2018, Ekezie was awarded the Queen's Young Leader Award by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. [10] He also won the Yenching Scholarship in the same year. For his work as a technology entrepreneur, he was awarded The Future Award Prize for Technology in 2022, [11] [12] and was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list (North America) in 2023. [13]

References

  1. ↑ "Forbes 30 Under 30 2024: Finance". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  2. 1 2 ""Exploring the Journey of Kennedy Ekezie-Joseph: A Trailblazer in Catalyzing TikTok's Success across Africa" – Independent Newspaper Nigeria". Independent Nigeria . Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  3. ↑ Akinyemi, Bioluwatife (2018-04-29). "Ekezie-Joseph becomes First Nigerian to Receive Yenching Scholarship". Nigerian Tribune . Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  4. ↑ "The Yenching Academy of Peking University Introduces the 2018 Cohort of Yenching Scholars-Yenching Academy of Peking University". Yenching Academy . Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  5. ↑ "KENNEDY EKEZIE-JOSEPH". We Are Family Foundation . 2021-06-13. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  6. ↑ Prosser, David. "Kippa Aims To Unlock The Potential Of Africa's Small Businesses". Forbes . Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  7. ↑ Mubarik, Abu (2022-01-24). "Meet the 23-yr-old Nigerian who led TikTok's entry into Africa and now has his own fintech startup". Face2Face Africa . Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  8. ↑ "KENNEDY EKEZIE-JOSEPH". We Are Family Foundation . 2021-06-13. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  9. ↑ "Entrepreneurship: What Must Young Africans Do Differently?". NYU Africa House. 2019-10-04. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  10. ↑ "Three Nigerians Receive Queen Elizabeth's Young Leaders Award". The Guardian (Nigeria) . 2018-06-27. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  11. ↑ Ajanaku, Lucas (21 February 2022). "Kennedy Ekezie-Joseph receives Future Awards Africa for technology". The Nation .
  12. ↑ "See who win for The Future Awards 2022". BBC News Pidgin . Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  13. ↑ "Kennedy Ekezie". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
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