Mohammed Dewji, Tanzania
Source: Manufacturing
Dewji ,38, is a Tanzanian businessman and
politician. Dewji is the CEO of Mohammed Enterprise Limited (METL) reputed as one
of the largest industrial conglomerates in East Africa. METL, which
records an annual turnover of close to $2 billion, owns 21st Century
Textiles, one of the largest textile mills in sub-Saharan Africa by volume. Other
things manufactured include soap, beverages, edible oils and other food
products as well as bicycles and motorcycles. Dweji has other several assets
including an insurance firm, a petroleum marketing outfit and a container depot
in Tanzania’s capital city of Dar Es Salaam. The group employs over
24,000 full-time employees. Mo Dewji is a World Economic Forum Young
Global Leader and a Member of Parliament for Tanzania’s Singida Urban
constituency.
Igho Sanomi, Nigeria
Source: Oil Trading
In 2004, Igho Sanomi founded the Taleveras
Group, a Nigerian energy trading company. Taleveras trades over 100
million barrels of crude oil as well as several million tons of gasoline, LPG
and jet fuel. In April 2012, Taleveras acquired production sharing contracts
(PSCs) for three offshore oil blocks in Ivory Coast. In June 2013, Taleveras
sold a 65% stake in one of its Ivorian offshore upstream projects to Lukoil of
Russia for an undisclosed price. Taleveras also owns a stake in a power
distribution firm in Nigeria. Sanomi is 38 years old.
Quinton van der Burgh, South
Africa
Source: Mining
The 36 year-old South African coal magnate is the
founder and chairman of Quinton van
der Burgh Investments, a diversified holding company that is the
controlling shareholder in Eyethu Coal, a company that mines coal in South
Africa’s Mpumalanga region. Eyethu owns two operational mines and is a major
supplier of coal to Eskom, South Africa’s dominant power provider. Van der
Burgh’s portfolio also includes Iyanga Coal- a company that owns a mine with
proven reserves of 18 million tons of coal and Burgh Plant Hire- a
company that leases earth-moving equipment to clients like BHP Billiton,
Xstrata and Anglo-American. Van der Burgh is also a TV personality. He stars in
Clifton
Shores, an American/South African reality show filmed in Cape Town.
Gerald Wamalwa, Kenya
In
2003, at age 28, Gerald Wamalwa quit his job as a field civil engineer and went
on to start Mellech, an
engineering outfit. Today, Mellech Engineering & Construction is now one of
East Africa’s leading construction and infrastructure engineering company. The
company offers services in the construction of building projects, roads, and
water & sewer projects and related civil engineering infrastructure
projects in Kenya, Southern Sudan and Uganda and grosses over $11 million a
year revenues. Wamalwa also owns ACP Telecoms, a company that provides turnkey
telecommunication network infrastructure solutions.
Sibongile
Sambo, South Africa
Source:
Private Aviation
Sibongile
Sambo, 39, is the founder of SRS
Aviation, a successful South African private aviation company. SRS started
off in 2004 by brokering contracts between aviation services and those with
air-transport needs. Later in the year, when the South African government
invited aviation service companies to bid on a lucrative contract for cargo
transport, SRS won the bid. Over time, SRS morphed from its cargo business into
an integrated provider of private aviation services. SRS now offers clients
from Southern Africa professional and personal flight options to international
destinations including VIP Charter, tourist charter and helicopter services.
The company also provides maintenance, sales and fleet management services to
private jet owners. SRS refused to disclose revenues, but a source in the
company says annual revenues are several million dollars.
Khanyi
Dhlomo, South Africa
Source:
Publishing
The
Harvard MBA grad and South African media mogul began her career as a news
presenter at SABC, the television station owned by the South African
government, at age 20 while she was still a journalism student at the
University of Witwatersrand. She went on to become the editor of True Love,
a popular South African women’s magazine at age 22. In 2007, she founded Ndalo Media, a
50-50 joint venture with Media 24, the publishing arm of Naspers, Africa’s
largest media company. Ndalo Media publishes Destiny and Destiny Man, two of
South Africa’s most popular lifestyle magazines. Ndalo also publishes Sawubona,
the in-flight publication for South African Airways, which is distributed on
all local and international SAA flights. She also owns Luminance, a startup
high-end fashion and lifestyle store in South Africa.
Patrick
Ngowi, Tanzania
Source:
Alternative Energy
Ngowi,
a 28 year-old Tanzanian, is the founder of Helvetic
Solar, East Africa’s leading renewable energy company. Companies in the
group are involved in the handling, supply, installation and maintenance of
hydro turbines, solar power and thermal systems in East Africa. According to
Ngowi, Helvetic’s revenues are expected to hit $7 million before the end of
this year and the company is extremely profitable. The company’s major
clients include the United Nations, World Vision and the Tanzanian Army. An
emerging philanthropist, he offers basic lighting facilities to Tanzania’s
rural poor through his Light For Life
foundation.
Ken
Njoroge, Kenya
Source:
Mobile technology
Njoroge,
37, is the founder of Cellulant a
leading Pan-African mobile commerce company that manages, delivers and bills
for content and commerce services over mobile networks. Cellulant provides
mobile banking, mobile payments, music, information services and other mobile
related services. Njoroge founded the company in 2004 along with a
Nigerian partner, Goke Akinboro. It now has a presence in 8 African countries
and boasts a clientele of African blue-chips like Barclays Bank, Standard
Chartered, MTN and other companies. Cellulant’s revenues
for 2012 exceeded $120 million.
Colin
Thornton, South Africa
Source:
Computer Services
In
1998, when he was 20, South African computer whiz Colin Thornton dropped out of
the University of Witwatersrand where he was pursuing a BSc in Computer
science. He raised $1,000 (R5, 000) from friends and family to print out flyers
and other marketing material promoting his startup company which would fix
computers. Today, that company is Dial-A-Nerd,
a company that provides computer support services dedicated to homes and businesses. Dial a Nerd’s
team of mobile technicians are able to repair, build, upgrade or even replace
PCs at your premises. The company has annual revenues of close to $10 million,
14 branches and 150 staff.
Alan Knott-Craig Jr., South
Africa
Source: Technology, Investments
The 36 year-old South African entrepreneur is the
founder of World Of Avatar (WOA), the
private investment holding company that acquired MXit from Namibian founder
Herman Heunis and Naspers for $50 million in August 2011. Mxit is a mobile
instant messaging services which offers social networking, mobile voice clips,
music & entertainment, banking access and other community-based
applications. It currently has over 20 million users. Alan also has stakes in
popular South African online publication Daily Maverick; advertising network
Shinka, which sells ad space on MXit; and market research company Pondering
Panda. Alan is a 2009 World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.
Curled from http://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2013/07/15/ten-young-african-millionaires-to-watch-in-2013/3/
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