Grammy award winner, Tems (Temilade Openiyi); singer, Ayra Starr (Oyinkansola Aderibigbe); Hansel and Germain Ndu-Okeke, Blessing Abeng, and two other Nigerians are among the young Nigerian leaders named in Forbes Africa’s ’30 Under 30′ of the year 2023.
Forbes Africa’s 30 Under 30 recognises the brightest visionaries, risk-takers, change-makers and pioneers to take their place on the continent.
The list comprises 30 of Africa’s most ingenious innovators under the age of 30 for the categories of Business, Technology, Creatives, Sport and Science/Health.
Dubbed ‘The Newest Self-Made Young Innovators and Leaders Scripting a New Vision for Africa’, this year’s list recognizes the outstanding accomplishments of 30 “multi-tasking multi-hyphenate entrepreneurs, innovators, and leaders” who are driving Africa’s progress on their own terms.
The list features Tems, Ayra Starr, Hansel and Germain Ndu-Okeke, Blessing Abeng and Khloe ‘Koko’ Abiri.
The finalists were selected from a pool of over a thousand applicants, which included former Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 alumni, an editorial team led by Under 30 curator Chanel Retief, as well as a panel of independent external judges and subject-matter experts.
The rigorous selection process considered factors such as innovation, scalability, social impact, and overall contribution to the development of Africa.
“In a post-pandemic Africa, everything is evolving all over again; everything is a work in progress. That was evident in the pool of talent we received… because here is a young batch of people completely cognizant of the changes the continent is going through and who are coming up with ideas and solutions for some of these very new problems. There are also problems that have been around for a long, and they are now trying to tackle them quickly. I think the speed with which they are trying to execute some of these ideas is what we need to highlight. They are also building their own brand and changing the image of the continent,” says Renuka Methil, Managing Editor of Forbes Africa.
Here are the seven influential Nigerians who made the list:
• Temilade Openiyi/’Tems’, 27, Nigeria – Singer-songwriter– Industry: Music and Entertainment
• Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe/‘Ayra Starr’, 20, Benin/Nigeria – Singer– Industry: Music and Entertainment
• Hansel Ndu Okeke, 28, Nigeria – Co-founder and CEO, Weevil Company – Industry: Technology
• Germain Ndu-Okeke, 24, Nigeria – Co-founder and Chief Operation Officer, Weevil Company – Industry: Technology
• Blessing Joel Abeng, 28, Nigeria – Co-founder and Director of Communications, Ingressive For Good – Industry: Branding and Communications
• Oluwabusayo Victoria Abiri, 29, Nigeria – Founder and CEO, Koko By Khloe – Industry: Beauty and Skincare
• Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe/”Ayra Starr’, 20, Benin/Nigeria – Singer – Industry: Music and Entertainment
• Asisat Oshoala, 28, Nigeria – Striker for Spanish Liga F, Club FC Barcelona and the Nigeria women’s national team – Industry: Professional Footballer