We have drawn up a list of 19 tech personalities who shaped Africa in 2019. The year was an eventful one in the African tech ecosystem. Some visionary tech personalities influenced the acquisitions, expansion and innovations in 2019. These techpreneurs took matters into their hands, impacted the continent against all odds and truly inspired a generation.
In no particular order, meet the 19 tech personalities who shaped Africa in 2019;
Olugbenga Agboola, CEO Flutterwave
In 2016, Olugbenga Agboola and Iyinoluwa Aboyeji co-founded Flutterwave to provide a reliable online payment infrastructure in Nigeria. Flutterwave is now a globally integrated payment platform that connects Africa to the global economy. It has processed $100 million transactions worth over $2.5 billion. Olugbenga became CEO when Aboyeji exited the company.
Today, the company’s products are helping merchants like Uber and Booking.com receive and process payments on time. It recently partnered with the Chinese e-commerce giant, Alibaba to allow African merchants to receive payment from Alipay’s one billion users. Flutterwave also joined the list of YCombinator’s companies valued at over $150 million.
Jason Njoku made headlines in 2019 for the deal between ROK Studios and Canal+ signed in July. ROK Studios was founded by his wife and business partner, Mary Njoku and incubated by iROKOtv, prior to the acquisition. The deal was notable for being the largest media transaction in West Africa. Jason recently shared a Tweet about plans to go public with the company on the London Stock Exchange by 2021. He also led activism in the ecosystem when he spoke up and contributed N10 million to support the #StopRobbingUs campaign against the unlawful arrest of young developers in Nigeria.
Phuti Mahanyele, CEO Naspers Limited South Africa
Phuti Mahanyele is the CEO of Naspers South Africa. She was appointed the CEO of the global internet group this year, having led several other global companies and executive boards. Under her administration, Naspers successfully listed its international internet assets on Amsterdam’s Stock Exchange. It has become the largest consumer internet company in Europe. In October 2019, the company also launched Naspers Foundry to invest in early-stage South African tech startups.
Mitchell Elegbe, CEO Interswitch
Mitchell Elegbe leads Interswitch Group, Africa’s first tech unicorn valued at $1 billion. He is a Bishop Desmond Tutu fellow of the African Leadership Institute who enjoys mentoring emergent African entrepreneurs.
Interswitch is an integrated digital payments and commerce company that facilitates the circulation of money across Africa. In 2019, VISA invested $200 million in Interswitch for a 20% stake. The company also plans to list an IPO next year.
Mostafa Kandil, Founder SWVL
In 2017, Mostafa, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh founded SWVL, an on-demand bus transportation company based in Cairo, Egypt. The company now operates along fixed routes in more than five African countries and Pakistan. SWVL is one of the disrupting bus sharing companies in the MENA region. The company raised $42 million in 2019, bringing its valuation to over $157 million.
Eric Hersman, CEO BRCK
Eric Hersman is the founder of BRCK, the Nairobi-based internet hardware and service startup. His wireless WiFi modems are designed to connect up to 100 devices to the internet.
Eric is also the co-founder of Ushahidi, free and open-source software for sourcing crisis information in Kenya. His afrigadget.com and whiteafrican.com online communities promote creative solutions and entrepreneurship development across Africa.
Chinedu Azodoh, Co-founder of Metro Africa Xpress (MAX.ng)
MAX.ng is the first motorcycle-hailing service provider in Nigeria. The company was co-founded by Chinedu Azodoh and Adetayo Bamiro in 2014 to allow the convenient movement of people and goods within Lagos State. Max.ng now has 70 employees and over 1000 bike riders in Western Nigeria. In 2019, Max.ng raised $30 million to introduce Electric Vehicles powered motorcycles to the business.
Odunayo Eweniyi, Co-founder Piggyvest
Odunayo co-founded PiggyVest alongside Somto Ifezue and Joshua Chibueze in 2016. The fintech helps young Nigerians to efficiently save money. There are several saving plans with high-interest earnings in the mobile app. So far, Piggyvest has up to 175,000 active monthly users on its platform.
In 2018, The company raised $1.1 million in seed funding from investors for expansion by incorporating in-app investment options and insurance services. Odunayo was recognized as the SME Entrepreneur of the Year at Wealth and Society West Africa for 2019.
Ken Njoroge, CEO Cellulant
Ken Njoroge is the co-founder and CEO of Cellulant, a leading fintech company in Africa. It was initially launched as a music ringtone platform in 2002 before Njoroge and his co-founder turned it into a digital banking service provider in 2004.
The company is currently in partnership with over 90 banks and operates in 11 countries. In 2018, it was listed among KPMG’s 100 leading global fintech companies.
Bosun Tijani, CEO CcHub
Bosun Tijani is the co-founder and CEO of Co-Creation Hub (CcHub), the largest tech hub in Africa. He set up a pre-incubation pace to incubate tech startups to drive social innovations in Africa. In September 2019, CcHuh acquired iHub in Kenya for an undisclosed sum, making him the CEO across both verticals.
Bosun can be referred to as one of the most powerful influencers in the African tech ecosystem who lends his voice in supporting innovative developments in the continent. He recently launched the #StopRobbingUs campaign in response to the constant harassment and unlawful arrest of software developers in Nigeria.
Onyeka Akumah, CEO Farmcrowdy
In 2016, Onyeka Akumah founded Farmcrowdy to help small-scale farmers raise funds for their agribusinesses. His digital agricultural platform has impacted over 11000 small-scale farmers and provided a source of income for investors. He also doubles as the Founder/CEO of Crowdyvest impact-driven platform and Co-founder of PlentyWaka, a bus-hailing and sharing platform in Lagos, Nigeria. Having received several awards, Onyeka is recognized as one of the most creative entrepreneurs in the agricultural, real estate, and transportation sectors.
Temie Giwa-Tubosun, CEO LifeBank
Temie Giwa-Tubosun is the Founder and CEO of LifeBank, on-demand blood and medical supplies platform that leverages technology for a timely delivery. She recently won Jack Ma’s $250000 Africa Netpreneur Prize at Accra Ghana.
Temie was awarded the Africa Business Hero Award during the ceremony. LifeBank is introducing drones to deliver to patients that are difficult to reach and also improve access to blood transfusions in the country.
Rebecca Enonchong, Founder AppsTech
Rebecca Enonchong also made the list of tech personalities of 2019. She is a Cameroon born techpreneur that is passionate about promoting technology in Africa. She is the founder and CEO of Appstech, a leading provider of enterprise application solutions.
Rebecca is the chairman of Afrilabs, a Pan-African network of over 80 innovation centres across 27 African countries. She was listed by Forbes Magazine as a top female tech founder in Africa. Rebecca proudly lends her voice in critical issues that touch the African tech ecosystem.
Olubayo Adekambi, Chief Transformation Officer, MTN
Olubayo is the Chief Transformation Officer at MTN Nigeria. He is a Data Scientist with a track record of implementing the analytical strategy for his team at MTN. He is also the convener of Data Science Nigeria, a non-profit organization that seeks to build a world-class Artificial Intelligence ecosystem. Olubayo is a leading expert in Data Science, Analytics, Business Transformation and Strategy with over 19 years of experience.
Adewale Yusuf, CEO Techpoint Africa
Exactly 5 years ago, Adewale Yusuf founded Techpoint Africa, a pan-African tech media platform. His platform has so far shaped the narrative of the African tech ecosystem. In 2019, Techpoint organized Techpoint Build, Techpoint Inspired, Townhall meetings with tech executives, including Jack Dorsey and Twitter executive team members.
In October, Techpoint Africa launched an outlet in Nairobi to get first-hand stories of innovation in East Africa. Adewale and his team started a Startup School in December 2019 to educate business owners on how to build scalable businesses in Africa.
Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Co-founded Andela and Flutterwave
Iyinoluwa Aboyeji made our list of tech personalities of 2019. He is an entrepreneur, serial Investor, creative thinker and co-founder of two successful African unicorns. He co-founded Flutterwave, Africa’s leading payment technology infrastructure and Andela, the largest organization for training and developing software engineers in Africa. In 2018, he retired as the CEO of Flutterwave to launch Street Capital, two years after retiring from Andela. Iyinoluwa recently launched Future Africa to annually support 20 founders with $50000 and to build a community of innovators that can deliver the future of Africa.
Jeremy Johnson, CEO Andela
Jeremy Johnson is the only non-African founder that made this list. We considered his bravery and ability to lead a team to build the first of its kind institution in Africa. Against all odds, Jeremy co-founded Andela, a high-quality training platform for aspiring software engineers that don’t charge tuition fees.
After training, Andela remotely hires them out to global tech companies and pays them salaries. It is also pertinent to note that Jeremy was able to withstand social media bashing when Andela changed their business focus and sacked over 400 junior software developers in 2019.
Paula Ingabire, Rwanda Minister of Technology
Paula Ingabire serves as the current Minister of ICT and Innovation in Rwanda. She was the Head of Kigali Innovation City Initiative and former Head of ICT at the Rwanda Development Board. She played a crucial role in championing the launch of Mara Phones, the first smartphones to be wholly-made in Africa. Her government is very supportive of the adoption of the fourth industrial revolution technologies in Rwanda.
Peter Njonjo, CEO and Co-founder Twiga Foods
Peter Njonjo co-founded Twiga Foods with Grant Brooke in 2014. The agritech platform connects a network of over 17000 farmers to 8000 vendors via its mobile app which uses M-Pesa mobile money as the payment gateway. His company has reduced post-harvest losses in Kenya from 30% to only 4% s and provided reliable markets for agricultural producers in Kenya. Twiga Foods recently raised $30 million from a funding round led by Goldman Sachs.
TechGist Africa celebrates these 19 tech personalities of 2019 for challenging the status quo and pushing beyond limits. It demonstrates that Africa is capable of building a wide range of global businesses that attract foreign direct investment and socially impact the world.