This year wasn’t any different and the publication released names of 30 Africans sourced from four categories featuring 30 in each: Business, Technology, Creatives and Sport
Here are 8 Kenyans sourced from Business and Technology who made it into the 2019 Forbes Africa top 30 under 30.
Sadaam Suleiman - Co-founder and Managing Director: DragonFly Limited
In 2014, Sadaam registered DragonFly, a digital advertising, media, branding and public relations firm, after noting a gap in the digital marketing field.
Since then, the business has grown to a staff of 33 but on one condition; they have to wear comfortable crocs in the office, work hard and play hard.
DragonFly has worked with numerous brands including Nutella, LG and Sanlam.
Last year, he bagged a gold award at the Muse Creative Awards. In 2024, he plans to launch an incubation hub.
David Kyalo - Founder and CEO: Koncepts & Events Ltd
David Kyalo founded Koncepts & Events Ltd in 2014 while studying at Kenyatta University in Kenya.
At the time, he and his partner only had $15 to register the business and worked from one of the rooms at the university.
Their first project was to organize a kids’ festival-themed event. Since then, they have worked on over 80 events, 35 marketing projects and have won nine awards.
Koncepts & Events now specializes in event-planning, catering, marketing and public relations.
Some of the clients they have had include the World Bank Group and Red Cross.
Shirlene Nafula - Founder and CEO: Crystal River Products
In 2015, Shirlene founded Crystal River Products, a manufacturing company for bio-based beauty and hygiene products after mixing products from her parents’ dining room table.
Her company has since grown ten-fold and now she supplies her products to corporates and institutions including the office of the Deputy President of Kenya, William Samoei Ruto. Her products have been sold in Uganda and Tanzania.
Nafula, who is a scientist by profession, currently employs 21 people on an incentive model. she has also been recognized by the British High Commission among women leading British and Kenyan businesses in Kenya and across the Commonwealth countries.
Kimani Adam - Co-founder and CEO: Nature Expeditions Destination Management
In 2015, using his personal savings and third-party angel capital, Kimani founded Nature Expeditions Destination Management, an African tour and photographic safari operator with offices in Rwanda, Seychelles, Mauritius, the US, Morocco, Uganda and Tanzania, with signed partnership deals in Asia and Canada.
He says he was inspired to venture into entrepreneurship by Zimbabwean billionaire, Strive Masiyiwa, who gave a talk to a group of graduates while he was at the Hult International Business School in the US.
His goal is to become an “industry powerhouse in the Africa and global photographic tour operator space”.
Jacob Rugano - Co-founder and director: AfricarTrack International
In 2014, Rugano founded a company called AfricarTrack International after developing a mobile-controlled road-accident control system that uses a mobile phone to reduce accidents on the road.
A programmed chip is installed inside the car which acts as a liaison between the car’s computer and the reporting and control system.
The system then collects data on whether the driver had been driving drunk, driving carelessly, as well as the location of the vehicle is hijacked.
The company has won numerous awards including the Changemaker Of The Year at the 2016 African Achievers Awards in Sandton, South Africa.
He was also listed among the 2016 Top 40 Under 40 Men in Kenya by Business Daily.
He plans to expand to South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria and install the technology in at least two million vehicles in Kenya.
Diana Esther Wangari - Co-founder and Chief Medical Officer: Sagitarix
In 2016, Wangari co-founded Sagitarix, a digital platform that facilitates the direct distribution of drugs to those most in need, with a focus on patients with chronic diseases.
The company launched an app called iSikCure which allows patients to place orders for drugs. The medicine is then delivered on the same day.
They also introduced a subsidiary company, Checkups Medical Centres, a low-cost rapid diagnostics medical clinic which uses technology.
Last year, they were able to distribute medical supplies worth over $200,000.
They currently have five clinics, four in rural areas and one in an urban area. Her organization has won the Get In The Ring Contest 2018 in Hague, Netherlands.
They were also finalists at the SBC AfriTech 2018 in Paris, France.
Eric Muli - Founder and CEO: Odyssey Capital
After finishing high school, Muli received a scholarship to attend Babson College in Wellesley in the US and this was where his journey as an entrepreneur began.
Today, at only 27, Eric Muli’s company has been listed by the London Stock Exchange Group as one of the companies to inspire Africa.
In 2015, he launched Odyssey Capital, a non-deposit-taking financial institution which provides financial products and services to individuals and businesses in the lower to middle-income bracket in Kenya.
With a strict policy of 50/50 male-to-female hiring policy, they have since built a team of over 90 employees, 500 sales agents and built partnerships with Samsung, Huawei, TECNO Mobile, Walmart and Airtel.
He plans to expand into Uganda and Tanzania.
Dorcas Owinoh - Co-founder and Director: LakeHub
Ms. Owinoh was born in Kibera and works at improving technology access to girls from humble backgrounds
She co-founded LakeHub, a technology and social innovation hub in Kisumu that supports a community of creatives, programmers, hackers, designers and entrepreneurs, with her team at university.
A majority of LakeHub members are girls aged between 13 and 19 years old. One of their biggest successes was in 2017 when a group of girls from LakeHub were the only team picked to represent Africa at the 2017 Technovation Challenge, sponsored by Google, Verizon and the United Nations in Silicon Valley, US.
Last year, she was a runner-up at the Queens Young Leaders awards.
Some of her company’s partners are Siemens Stiftung, Pluralsight, Hivos, and Segal Family Foundation.
