Forbes has included 6 Nigerians as part of 30 Africans below the age of 30 and making a significant impact on the continent. None of the 30 selectees is in the tech sector, although some of them are from the media and creative arts sector.
Also read: Nigeria’s Temie Giwa-Tubosun and Ada Osakwe Scoop Forbes Awards For Innovation And Business
The 6 Nigerians are Ifan Ifeanyi Michael, Timilehin Bello, Temidayo Oniosun, Amarachi Nwosu, Divine Ikubor and Wale Lawal.
One of Flutterwave’s founders, Olugbenga Agboola, was an external judge in the selection process. Alongside him, BellaNaija’s Uche Pedro, Zimababwe’s Tendai Mtawarira and South Africa’s Dr John Kani also served as external judges.
Meet the 6 Nigerians who made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
Timilehin Bello
Bello is the founder of Media Panache, a full-service communications and PR brand with offices in Lagos and the United States of America. He started the company in 2016 and believes that the greatest investments that a business can make are in its people and consumer relationships.
Timilehin loves connecting with friends, sharing updates, announcements, and sending BCs. One of the previous awards he has won is that of the Top 25 Innovators in Europe, Middle East and Africa by the Holmes Report.
Divine Ikubor (Rema)
Divine Ikubor, popularly known as Rema, is a singer and rapper from Edo State. He came into the limelight after sharing his freestyle of a song by another Afropop performer, D’Prince, on Instagram. Since then, he has signed a record deal with Jonzing World, a subsidiary of Mavin Records.
In 2019, he joined Mavin Records as the latest addition to the team. His eponymous debut EP, ‘Rema‘ topped the Apple Music Nigeria chart. Before the Forbes 30 under 30 awards, the 21-year-old has received other awards which include Next Rated at The Headies and the Soundcity MVP Awards for the best new artist.
Also Read: Afrilearn, Utiva among 6 Nigerian startups selected for $20,000 Future of Work Africa Accelerator
Temidayo Oniosun
26-year-old Temidayo is a graduate of Meteorology from the Federal University of Technology in Akure. Passionate about space, he further obtained a master’s degree in Satellite Applications from the University of Strathclyde Glasgow.
He started ‘Space in Africa’ in 2018 with the vision to adequately cover business, technology, discoveries, events and political information on the African space and satellite industry. Before getting this Forbes award, he has been listed in the Newspace People 2018/2019 Global Ranking of the top 200 movers and shakers in the space industry.
Temidayo is a TEDx speaker and is also the founder of coworking space, RadikalHUB.
Amarachi Nwosu
Nwosu is a Tokyo-based Nigerian-American who is into photography, writing and filmmaking. She founded ‘Melanin Unscripted’, a platform that showcases different cultures and complexities around the world in short documentaries and creative works.
She is the producer and director of ‘Black in Tokyo‘, a short documentary that exposed the black experience of living in Tokyo. Some of her works have been featured on the Huffington Post, CNN Africa and Black Enterprise.
Wale Lawal
Lawal is the founder of ‘The Republic’ and a graduate of Economics from the University of Bath. He is passionate about the African culture and has a master’s degree in African studies from the University of Oxford.
In 2019, he made the list of Quartz Magazine’s Top African innovators and is constantly exploring ways to promote Africa and African enterprises.
Ifan Ifeanyi Michael
Ifeanyi Michael is a popular name in Nigeria’s creative industry. He acted in a movie at the age of 5, then went on to become a fashion stylist, working with different celebrities including Awilo Logomba, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde and others.
In 2017, he produced his debut feature titled ‘Lotanna‘. The movie was nominated for Best Film west Africa and Best Art Direction categories of the AMVCA and won in the latter. With his debut, he also won Best Producer at ZAFAA 2018 in London.
On account of his stellar works as a creative artist and filmmaker, Michael is the sixth Nigerian on the list of Forbes 30 under 30 for 2021.
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