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Below is the list of youngest entrepreneurs in Southern Africa.
1 -Mogau Seshoene, 27, South Africa
Founder: The Lazy Makoti
Seshoene’s The Lazy Makoti is a cooking start-up that teaches women to shine in the kitchen.[1] The idea came in 2014 when she had to teach a friend to make traditional meals. “There are shockingly so many people who don’t know how to make South African foods.[8]
It is also hard to find a traditional food recipe book; so I knew that I had to concentrate on traditional food although I teach other cuisines too,” she says.[2] Through word of mouth, her lessons turned into a business. Seshoene also sells branded chopping boards, recipe journals, aprons and tea sets, therefore,[6] she is among the successful entrepreneurs in Southern Africa.
2 -Siya Beyile, 22, South Africa
Founder: The Threaded Man
Beyile is a man of style adored by many.[1] Growing up, money was scarce and life tough. He worked hard in school but realized he wasn’t gifted. In 2013, he started The Threaded Man, a fashion blog for men,[5] inspired by his mother, who often called him “umfana othungiweyo”, the threaded man in isiXhosa.
Making money was hard.[1] He lobbied for investment and the company has grown to become a middleman between brands and consumers.“We are now more like an agency, we consult,[5] dress celebrities, sell content, style and creatively direct events and we are taking fashion to a whole new level in South Africa.” Beyile employs 20 people, is the first South African men’s fashionista to collaborate with H&M and the new face of American Swiss, he is one of the youngest entrepreneurs in Southern Africa.[6]
3 -Inga Gubeka, 28, South Africa
Founder: Indalo Décor
Gubeka knows poverty. He grew up in a single rented room,[2] in KwaZulu-Natal, with five family members, being raised by his grandparents. [10]He started a business homeless and hungry. “I had been awarded a commission by the department of health to design and manufacture information booths,[5] I couldn’t because I required cash to manufacture the stuff, I went to all the banks they couldn’t [lend money to] my company because I lived hand-to-mouth.”
Indalo Décor – named after his son and meaning “creation” in isiZulu – designs and makes backpacks,[9] clocks, lamps, and wooden accessories for cell phones.[2] The plywood bags are his best sellers. Gubeka makes $77,000 a year. Glenfiddich named a $5,000 bottle of whiskey after him.
4 -Emmanuel Bonoko, 26, South Africa
Founder: EBonoko Holdings
As tragic as it was, Bonoko’s father’s death spurred him to success.[12] It meant he had to grow up. “I was doing grade 11 and I had to start working harder in school because my mother is a domestic worker. I knew she will not have the capacity to take me to university,” he says. [14] He studied hard, got a scholarship and studied a BCom marketing degree. But he chose entrepreneurship over a salary.
Bonoko founded EBonoko Holdings, a media consulting, [8]public relations and events company, which employs five people. He also founded EBonoko Foundation, a social enterprise for book drives and business and career exhibitions. [6]He was named a Lead SA hero by Radio 702 and by the Mail & Guardian as one of the 200 Youngest entrepreneurs in Southern Africa in 2014.
5 -Hanta Tiana Ranaivo Rajaonarisoa, 24, Madagascar
Founder: Flore Aroma
Rajaonarisoa is the only under 30 in this year’s list hailing from a tropical paradise, [9]Madagascar. She comes from a family of entrepreneurs but bankruptcy and a black cloud of mosquitos drove her to entrepreneurship.
Her father went bankrupt in 2009 after Andry Rajoelina’s coup d’état,[10] which plunged Madagascar into political crisis. Rajaonarisoa couldn’t afford to finish her business administration degree in the United States.
She took over the family-owned unused essential-oil-making machine. She founded Flore Aroma, a low cost essential oils company, [2]with the money she saved as a student.[4] Her first batch was 100 bottles of mosquito repellent and antiperspirants, which she sold at a trade fair. She now supplies to 40 pharmacies in Madagascar.[10]
6 -Nadav Ossendryver, 20, South Africa
Founder: Latest Sightings
Ossendryver has always been fascinated by wildlife. [3] At 15, he founded Latest Sightings, a wildlife crowdsourcing site for visitors who are in the Kruger Park to report the animals and events that they are seeing live.[9] They report their location, time and sighting to Latest Sightings, which in turn broadcasts it on social media.
He spent hours on YouTube teaching himself how to code an iPhone app. “Within three weeks,[12] I had the app out on the App Store. I used social media to grow a community of around 30,000 in three weeks. All of this for only $10 for the domain name for my site.” Four years later, [3]Ossendryver has one of the top-viewed YouTube channels in South Africa. With over 215,000 subscribers and over 255 million views worldwide, it makes money, [8]Nadav is now among the youngest entrepreneurs in Southern Africa.
7 – Nkosana Mazibisa, 27, Zimbabwe
Founder: Mazibisa Inc.
Mazibisa was born in the heart of what used to be Zimbabwe’s industrial town, Bulawayo,[5] in 1988. The idea of fixing the world dawned on him in his high school debate team in Bulawayo.
“The country was collapsing and we had a debate at school about these issues and how to solve them.”[7] When it was over, everyone went home and continued with their lives,[2] but not Mazibisa. “I knew that I had to do my bit to make a difference. That’s why I decided to start a business to solve the unemployment problems we have and revive our industries.”
He founded a food retail brand, Swaad “The Taste of India,” and Mazibisa Inc., a brand strategy consultancy firm in Bulawayo.[6]
Source: Forbes
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- Top 10 Youngest Billionaires In Uganda
- World’s Top 10 Youngest Billionaires – 2015
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