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10 African Millionaires Under 40
Nothing beats being young and rich. While most people attain multi-million dollar and billion dollar fortunes in their 40s and 50s, a few savvy entrepreneurs hit the big time while in their 20s and 30s.
Mfonobong Nsehe, who contributes for Forbes reported that there are a handful of young African entrepreneurs who’ve legitimately built multi-million dollar companies while in their 20s and 30s.
A few of them have taken the helm of small companies and spun them into companies with valuations of $1 billion or more.
All aged 39 and under, they are worth watching closely.
Mohammed Dewji, Tanzania: Manufacturing
Dewji, 38, a Tanzanian businessman and politician, is the CEO and leading shareholder of Mohammed Enterprise Limited (METL), one of the largest industrial conglomerates in East Africa.
His father, Gulam Dewji, founded the conglomerate decades ago as a trading company but ‘Mo’ as he is popularly called, now calls the shots.
He was solely responsible for engineering the group’s transformation from a trading house to a manufacturing powerhouse.
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.
The group also manufactures soap, beverages, edible oils and other food products as well as bicycles and motorcycles.
Other assets include 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.
(I met with Dewji in Tanzania recently and will be writing a detailed piece on Dewji’s business holdings).
Igho Sanomi, Nigeria: 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: 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: Engineering & Construction
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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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.
The World Bank Group has announced the 31-month debarments of United Aviation Services Limited (UNASEL), a transportation services company based in Nigeria, and Air Vice Marshal Alkali Mamu, its owner and president, “in connection with fraudulent practices under the Enhancing Niger Northeastern Connectivity Project,” according to a press release issued by the multilateral development bank.
The statement said that the project aims to enhance connectivity and road safety along the Zinder-Agadez Road section and improve access to basic socioeconomic infrastructure for selected communities in that road section.
However, according to the statement: “UNASEL and Mr. Mamu presented false experience documents in a prequalification application to qualify for a contract under the project. This was a fraudulent practice under the World Bank’s sanctions framework.”
“The debarments make UNASEL and Mr. Mamu ineligible to participate in projects and operations financed by Bank Group institutions. The debarments are part of two settlement agreements under which UNASEL and Mr. Mamu admit culpability for the underlying sanctionable practices,” it added.
The statement further said: “Per the Bank Group Sanctioning Guidelines, the settlement agreements provide for a reduced period of debarment in light of UNASEL and Mr. Mamu’s cooperation.
As a condition for release from sanction under the terms of the settlement agreements, UNASEL and Mr. Mamu commit to developing and implementing integrity compliance measures that reflect the relevant principles set out in the Bank Group Integrity Compliance Guidelines, and Mr. Mamu further agrees to complete corporate ethics training.
UNASEL and Mr. Mamu also commit to continue to fully cooperate with the Bank Group’s Integrity Vice Presidency.
“The debarments of UNA SEL and Mr. Mamu qualify for cross-debarment by other multilateral development banks under the Agreement for Mutual Enforcement of Debarment Decisions that was signed on April 9, 2010.”
Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State, has approved the allocation of a parcel of land in Enugu, the state capital, for the establishment of a state-of-the-art Digital Fabrication Centre by the Industrial Training Fund.
Mbah announced this while receiving a delegation from the Industrial Training Fund on a courtesy visit to the Government House, Enugu.
The ITF disclosed this on Friday in a statement signed by its Director of Press and Public Relations, Thomas Ngor.
According to the statement, Mbah described the proposed project as timely and aligned with his administration’s vision of transforming Enugu into a leading destination for investment, innovation and technology-driven industrial development.
He noted that the future of economic prosperity lies in deliberate investments in human capital and emerging technologies, adding that the state has continued to create an enabling environment for innovation, enterprise and sustainable growth.
The governor explained that his administration has made technical education compulsory in the state’s basic education system, with emphasis on digital literacy, robotics and mechatronics to prepare learners for the future of work.
According to him, many traditional trades are now driven by digital technologies, making it imperative to equip young people with relevant technical competencies that will enable them to compete globally and contribute meaningfully to economic development.
Governor Mbah further disclosed that his administration has built smart schools across the state, equipped with robotics centres, mechatronics laboratories and other modern learning facilities, to prepare youths for the evolving global economy.
He noted that artificial intelligence is expected to contribute about $20tn to the global economy in the coming years.
He therefore stressed that the state must be intentional about upskilling its citizens, adding that the establishment of the ITF Digital Fabrication Centre will significantly strengthen the state’s drive to build a knowledge-based economy, foster innovation, promote local manufacturing and create employment opportunities for its growing youthful population.
Earlier, Afiz Ogun, the Director-General of the ITF, who led the delegation, said that upon his appointment by President Bola Tinubu, he was mandated to upskill Nigerian artisans to international standards.
He explained that the Fund subsequently repositioned its technical and vocational skills development efforts through strategic initiatives, including the Skill-Up Artisans Programme, which is designed to train, certify and license Nigerian artisans to international standards.
Ogun disclosed that the Fund had already established a Digital Fabrication Centre in Ikeja, Lagos, with the capacity to produce more than 400 different products. He therefore requested the allocation of land in Enugu State to establish a similar centre with the same production capacity.
According to him, the initiative is aimed at promoting industrialisation, reducing dependence on imports and preparing Nigerians for opportunities in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
He also reaffirmed the Fund’s readiness to enter into public-private partnerships that will transform Nigeria’s artisanal ecosystem.
Ogun further noted that digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, robotics and computer-aided manufacturing, are rapidly transforming the global economy, making it imperative for Nigeria to deliberately invest in upskilling its workforce to remain globally competitive.
The ITF delegation was later conducted on a guided tour of facilities at one of the smart schools established by the Enugu State Government.
Glovo, a multi-category tech company, has announced its integration into the generative AI ecosystem with the launch of its “Shopping Assistant” for ChatGPT and Claude. Users can now discover retail products, compare prices, and seamlessly order any item using natural conversational language with the AI systems.
The Glovo experience inside such platforms introduces a conversational commerce model that shifts from a search-based web to an intent-based web. Rather than navigating traditional app menus and filters, users can express needs, such as asking for a “last-minute gift for a coffee lover under ₦50,000”, and the assistant handles semantic search, location validation, and product curation.
A Seamless, Concierge-Like Experience
Once both platforms have been connected through either ChatGPT or Claude apps, the user will be able to have a multi-turn dialogue where the assistant remembers context and constraints, such as budget caps. Users receive a visual carousel of up to five highly customised product options available at local stores. Each product displays its image, name, store details and ratings, and price. While the search and discovery experience takes place directly on the Generative AI platforms, selecting a product via the “view on Glovo” button takes the user to the Glovo mobile or web app, where the payment and final purchase are exclusively completed.
Strategic Focus on Retail and Growth
Glovo is prioritising the retail and grocery sectors for this initial launch, capturing the established habit of using AI for product research. Generative AI has driven a significant jump in retail traffic globally, so this first-mover advantage aims to meet customers where they are meeting Gen AI daily, and ensure it captures high-intent organic traffic as search behaviours evolve.
“We’re always looking for ways to meet our customers where they already are. Being available on Claude and ChatGPT means people can discover what Glovo has to offer as part of a natural conversation, with no friction. Glovo has always been about being the everyday app that provides choice and convenience, and this is another step in that direction”, said Shiro Theuri, Chief Technology Officer at Glovo.
How to look for products in the Glovo app through ChatGPT or Claude
- The user must sync ChatGPT or Claude with the Glovo app with the plug-in.
- Once synced, the user must type in @glovo followed by their request.
- The AI platform displays a carousel with 5 available options for the user.
- If the user wants to purchase any of the products or continue searching within the Glovo app, they must click “View on Glovo”, which will redirect the user to the Glovo app or website.
- After the order is confirmed, the store will prepare the item(s) and the courier will head up to the pick-up location. The user will receive the order in minutes.
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