Earlier, we covered the Nigerians who appeared on Forbes Africa’s 30 under 30 list in the technology category. This time around, we’ll be taking a look at the individuals who made the list for their amazing business ventures. Their game-changing initiatives prove they have what it takes to take Africa to the next level.
Ogechukwu Anugo-Obah
Despite experiencing abject poverty as a child and dropping out of school, Ogechukwu Anugo-Obah resolved to succeed against all odds.
She started making basic skincare products herself because she couldn’t afford them and in time, her entrepreneurial instincts kicked in.
Seeing that she could make money by selling her skincare products, she packaged it and sold it to her first two clients, in a small cup, for N2500 ($7).
In a month, she had sold up to 50 cups of her products.
Today, her business, BodyLikeMilk, deals not only in skin care products to also facials, hair, makeup, and fragrances. They have clients in West Africa, including Dubai, Germany, the UK, Ireland, France and South Africa.
In addition to being nominated for over 10 awards, Anugo-Obah received the Promising Young Entrepreneur of The Year 2018 award at The Next Titan Nigeria Top 18 Young Entrepreneurs Awards.
“Our goal is to be one of the top 10 world-class skincare and cosmetics brands. [We want] to expand our training centres in Nigeria and Ghana, train and empower over 20,000 women by 2023,” she says.
Ijeoma Balogun
From the young age of 19, Ijeoma Balogun already seemed set for life after securing a job as the style editor of Nigeria’s largest entertainment and lifestyle blog Bella Naija.
She went on to venture into the field of Public Relations and founded her company, Redrick PR, in 2012.
“I started the company from home, in my dad’s study, with zero employees, zero funds, just my laptop, and grand ideas to change the PR landscape in Nigeria,” she says.
Redrick PR has an impressive clientele including Viber, the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment, the Federal Ministry of Communication & Technology, Jumia Nigeria, MAC Cosmetics and Coca-Cola.
Among her achievements include partnering with Celebrity Services Africa. This gave her the opportunity to represent local and multinational companies globally.
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Bright Jaja
Bright Jaja’s is on a mission to empower young Africans by teaching them relevant skills.
He first actualized this dream in 2016 by setting up a summer school to teach students garment-making, bead-making, art, make-up design, graphic design, 3D animation, web design, cooking, and music, free of charge.
Today, icreate Africa, the company he founded to drive this initiative, aims to promote skill acquisition across the whole of Africa.
In order to maximise its impact, icreate Africa hosted one of Africa’s biggest technical and vocational skills competitions, the iCreate Skill Fest.
The company reached over 80,000 Africans and has secured contracts with several companies.
“We rebranded the image of technical skills for everyone to be willing to become part of the skill eco-system we created.”
– Bright Jaja says
Featured Image Source: ThisDay Live