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He develops video games that highlight African cultures in an industry that has long been dominated by foreign companies. Through his hard work and dedication, he is transforming the industry and inspiring a new generation of African entrepreneurs.
Olivier Madiba (photo) is a Cameroonian entrepreneur and video game developer. He is best known for being the founder and CEO of Kiro'o Games, the first video game studio in Central Africa. Through his work, Madiba established himself as one of the leading players in the African video game industry, showcasing African culture.
The Cameroonian-born got interested in video gaming quite early. After his computer science studies at the University of Yaoundé 1, he went on to study business management, as a YALI scholar, at Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire.
In 2013, he founded Kiro'o Games, a video game creation studio with an all-African team. The studio creates the best African digital catalog with a mix of video games, comics, animations, illustrations, etc. In 2016, the company released its first game, "Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan" which was inspired by African culture. The game soon became a commercial success.
The studio also developed several other games, including the game "Le responsable Mboa," a comic game satirizing civil servants’ vices, and "Aurion: Kajuta Gems Fighters," a puzzle adventure game in the Aurion universe.
In 2007, Olivier Madiba established his first enterprise, MADIA GROUP, an IT company providing services such as web development, hosting, and web design. This venture marked the origin of the Kiro'o project.
His work at Kiro'o Games has earned him several awards. He is recognized as one of the leading players in the video game industry in Cameroon. In 2016, he was the runner-up of the Total Energies Startupper Challenge in Cameroon. He is one of the 20 French-speaking African entrepreneurs to watch in 2023 according to the African media outlet Warketing Digital.
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He ventured into entrepreneurship while still a student. Years later, he launched Sylabs, an incubator that supports young Algerians in starting their businesses or acquiring new skills.
Abdellah Mallek is an Algerian entrepreneur and the founder of Sylabs, which claims to be the first private incubator and accelerator in Algeria. He graduated from the University of Science and Technology Houari Boumediene with a master's in applied mathematics in 2014.
The following year, he launched Sylabs as a technology center and coworking space that supports entrepreneurs, organizations, and talents, giving them the tools to monetize their creative potential, venture into entrepreneurship, and boost employability.
“Sylab’s most important achievement so far has been its ability to build an entrepreneurship community where there previously wasn’t one. Not only have we helped so many startups connect with big clients but we have also succeeded in attracting important stakeholders to the tech and entrepreneurship hub,” he said in 2020.
In partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Sylabs launched Industry'Elle, a program that supports women entrepreneurs in operating in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) industries. The enrollment phase of the program, which aims to encourage women's entrepreneurship, ended on May 5, 2023.
Abdellah Mallek ventured into entrepreneurship quite early, when he was still a student. In 2008, he created a for-profit group of math and programming talents who earn money by tutoring other students. In 2011, he co-founded an online tourism network called Welcome Dz. Some seven years later, he launched a radio show where subjects like entrepreneurship, technology, and career development were discussed. The show, called JOW RADIO, ended in 2020.
In 2012, he was one of the co-organizers of Startup Weekend, a well-known entrepreneurship competitive event. In December 2014, he was also a mentor for Ampion, an international program that guides and equips promising and high-potential startups. Between 2014 and 2016, the tech entrepreneur worked as a contributing writer for the media outlet Wanda.
In 2017, the media outlet Geeky Algeria named him one of the 10 Algerian entrepreneurs under 30 to watch. He is also on the list of the 30 most promising young African entrepreneurs published by Forbes magazine in 2018.
Melchior Koba
Krystal Digital was founded by an experienced entrepreneur in the information and communication technology sector, who recognized the need for better information management in Nigerian schools after facing issues getting his college transcript.
In Nigeria, Temitope Ogunsemo is one of the leading figures in the booming edtech segment. He is the founder and CEO of Krystal Digital Network Solutions, which develops edtech solutions to help reduce absenteeism and enhance the skills of Nigerians.
Krystal Digital was founded in 2010 as a result of the founder's difficult and frustrating experience in retrieving his college transcripts. In response, he launched MySkool Portal, a web application that allows efficient school information management by ensuring proper documentation of school data. This marked the birth of Krystal Digital.
"Krystal Digital emerged as a result of my difficult and frustrating experience when I attempted to get hold of my academic transcript. In a bid to tackle such issues, I developed a school information management system for government-owned secondary schools, spearheaded by King’s College, Lagos. By virtue of the value proposition offered by my organization, the principal of the school liked the product so much, he asked other principals in his network to adopt a similar technology, and Krystal Digital was born," said Temitope Ogunsemo in 2019.
MySkool Portal is now used in more than 20 states in Nigeria, with over 50 institutional clients, including public high schools. It has more than 75,000 active students, bringing Krystal Digital's annual revenue to more than NGN1.1 billion ($2.4 million).
Mr. Temitope Ogunsemo is a graduate of the University of Ibadan, where he earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 2008. He also graduated from the University of Salford in the UK, where he earned a master's in information technology. He has worked as a software engineer on several projects and has received several national and international awards.
In 2017, the ECOWAS Youth Council distinguished him as the West African Personality of the Year. In 2018, he was named by Forbes magazine as one of the 30 most promising young African entrepreneurs, and his MySkool Portal app was chosen as the school management software of the year at the Nigeria Technology Awards. He also received the Most Entrepreneurial Organization in Information and Communication Technology award for his company at the 2018 Nigeria Entrepreneurs Awards.
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He is a tech and marketing professional with years of experience. As the head of the marketing firm Nendo, he assists African companies with their digital marketing processes.
Mark Kaigwa (photo) is a Kenyan writer and entrepreneur with a degree in Information Technology and Business from Strathmore University. He is the founder and CEO of Nendo, a digital marketing company based in Nairobi.
His marketing company, founded in 2013, supports ambitious leaders and teams that are ready to engage Africa's connected audiences. It offers a fresh approach that includes training, research, strategies, and solutions useful to its clients, industry… Its experienced team offers companies a digital framework to study data, survey customers, evaluate competitors, and get quick results to maximize their revenues. It also offers a system to quantify brand impact using data, qualitative research, and communication.
Nendo also provides digital landscape mapping to allow companies to assess mobile, digital, and social media opportunities, future growth opportunities, and existing benchmarks to allocate resources. It currently covers over 20 African countries.
Its founder, Mark Kaigwa, is a member of the Kenyan chapter of the non-profit organization Entrepreneurs' Organization and an alumnus of its acceleration program. He is also the non-executive director of FinCredit Ltd, a Kenyan microcredit institution, and the course director of Media Leaders Africa, owned by the broadcasting corporation BBC.
An animator and creative consultant for Warner Bros in 2008, he worked for Brainwave Communications Ltd as a senior copywriter from 2009 to 2010. Between 2010 and 2013, he was a partner in the African Digital Art Network where he supported the research, writing, and curation of African animation. He was later a partner at Afrinnovator, a digital media and analytics company focused on business, economics, and investments in Africa. In 2017, for five months, he was a mentor for XL Africa, an acceleration program launched by the World Bank.
The entrepreneur has received several awards and recognitions including a nomination in the Forbes 30 under 30 list in 2013. In 2018, he made it to the Top 25 Men in Digital issued by DigiTalk Kenya. In 2022, he was the 2nd runner-up of the Global Compact Network Kenya (GCNK) SDG Pioneer.
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She is a computer scientist with a passion for digital transformation, and her contribution to the Ugandan ICT sector was recently celebrated with a national medal.
Aminah Zawedde (photo) is currently the Permanent Secretary of Uganda's Ministry of Information and Communication Technology and National Guidance. She is a graduate of Makerere University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in statistics in 2001 and a master's degree in information systems in 2005. She also holds a graduate degree in education technology from the University of Cape Town (2014) and a Ph.D. in software engineering from Eindhoven University of Technology (2016).
Since 2021, she has been assisting the Ministry of ICT in leading, coordinating, and supporting the formulation of policies, laws, regulations, and strategies to develop the national ICT sector. Her career began in 2001 as the Data Officer for the Uganda Electoral Commission, followed by an internship in the IT department of the Uganda Revenue Authority in 2005. In 2006, she joined the Infectious Diseases Institute-Mulago Hospital as an IT consultant. From 2008 to 2016 and then from 2016 to 2021, respectively, she was an assistant lecturer and teacher-researcher at Makerere University.
Aminah Zawedde's outstanding work in promoting and advancing the use of ICT in Uganda was recognized on May 1, 2023, when the Ugandan government awarded her a national medal, along with Vivian Ddambya. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the National Information Technology Authority-Uganda (NITA-U) and serves as the Non-Executive Director of DFCU Limited, one of Uganda's strongest financial institutions.
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Through its acceleration programs, collaborative workspace, and networking events, Smart Lab provides young entrepreneurs with the tools and resources they need to develop their ideas and build successful businesses.
Smart Lab is an innovation lab and accelerator launched in 2017 by the Tanzanian digital transformation company Smart Codes. It aims to “fuel learning institutions to change the future of their students by working hand in hand to meet corporate needs.”
In line with its stated mission, the accelerator connects educational institutions with corporate partners to implement innovative solutions that will impact communities, stakeholders, and the African population.
Its corporate partners are typically companies that are already successful in tech and innovation. During its three-month Corporate Accelerators program, its partner in the program (Vodacom) mentors startups to help them build products and services that solve key challenges through rapid and lean experimentation techniques.
With its Smart Lab Talent, the accelerator assists partner companies in building top-notch engineering teams by offering its tech recruitment expertise.
It also organizes an annual series of quarterly events called Corporate Unwind, where the most influential companies in the Tanzanian ecosystem are invited to share their passion, tools, and tips to make and keep their company successful and influential in their field. The fifth edition took place in September 2022.
With the support of partners such as Seedspace, Ennovate Hub, Digital Opportunity Trust Tanzania, and X Prize Foundation, among others, Smart Lab has organized several hackathons, skills, and talent development programs. It has also created a coworking space for entrepreneurs to work, connect, and innovate collaboratively.
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He is one of the entrepreneurs revolutionizing the African fintech industry. He founded the fintech company Paga Group, which provides innovative mobile payment solutions to Nigerians.
Nigerian-born Tayo Oviosu (photo) is a Standford University Graduate and one of the first fintech entrepreneurs in the African tech ecosystem. In 2009, he founded Paga Group, a fintech company that aims to offer a mobile payment solution accessible to every Nigerian regardless of income group. His company enables users to carry out online transactions, pay bills, and access several financial services from their phones.
“One of my main focuses when starting the company was, how do I get the market woman in Ajegunle [ ed. note: one of the most vulnerable neighborhoods in Lagos] to use this. [...] Our ambition is that one billion people should use this platform to access and use money. We want to particularly focus on the emerging middle class – helping them to pay, and helping them to get paid,” he explained in 2021.
With over 19 million registered users and more than 27,000 agents across Nigeria, Paga has quickly become one of the market leaders in financial technology in Africa. Tayo Oviosu has worked with partners such as Untapped Global and Visa to expand his company's capabilities and provide innovative payment solutions to users.
The tech entrepreneur also co-founded Kairos Angels, a company that invests in business founders who are obsessed with changing the world. His professional career began in 1999 at Deloitte Consulting where he was a senior consultant.
In 2004, he worked for Lucent Technologies for three months as a business development summer associate. The following year, he joined Cisco Systems as manager of acquisitions and venture capital investments. In 2008, he was appointed Vice President at Travant Capital Partners, a venture capital and private equity firm. He worked there for five months.
He has been recognized for his work in entrepreneurship and financial inclusion. In 2013, he was nominated for the West African Entrepreneur of the Year at the All African Business Leaders Awards. In 2015, the African Leadership Network selected Paga Group as the Outstanding Growing Company of the Year in Africa.
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He runs an edtech company that focuses on teaching children coding. He is also behind several technology solutions that are revolutionizing the education sector in Africa.
Matthew Henshall (photo) is a South African serial entrepreneur who graduated from the University of Cape Town with a bachelor's in electromechanical engineering. He is the founder and CEO of educational technology startup Code4Kids, founded in 2018.
His startup enables teachers to teach children aged between 8 and 15 coding, robotics, and computer science using real-world tools and content. It also provides continuous training to keep teachers always abreast with new technologies. The startup was recently selected to participate in the Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship program. The program, initiated in partnership with edtech accelerators and innovation centers, aims to support fast-growing and impactful edtech companies.
Matthew Henshall is also the founder and CEO of Lessonspace, a Twilio-like collaborative space launched in 2018. It allows teachers to deliver live, online lessons individually or in groups.
He also founded romm.sh, the video-conferencing software that powers Lessonspace, and Code4Kids. In 2016, he launched SkillUp Tutors, an online platform that connects students and tutors.
The serial entrepreneur started his professional career, in 2014, as a systems engineer for the nutritional company Vital Health Foods. Between 2015 and 2016, he worked for energy supplier BattCo Energy Storage Systems as an electromechanical engineer.
Melchior Koba
He is a remarkable entrepreneur who has contributed significantly to the development of technology in Africa. His vision and leadership have enabled his fintech startup, InTouch SA, to become one of the leaders in the African mobile payment industry.
Omar Cissé (photo), the founder and CEO of fintech startup InTouch SA, is a Senegalese entrepreneur renowned in the African fintech ecosystem. A graduate of the Polytechnic Institute of Dakar where he earned a degree in computer science and design engineering, he also holds a master’s in business administration from the Higher Institute of Management (still in Senegal).
In 2014, he founded InTouch SA, a financial technology company that provides a mobile payment platform for financial transactions in Africa. The company provides innovative technology that allows it to manage all of its customers' transactional needs in a secure, efficient, and simple manner.
His financial technology company enables its customers to collect and settle payments in real-time across the continent through an application that offers features such as payment acceptance, customer retention, airtime top-up, billing and dunning, expense management, deferred payment, money transfer, and intercontinental settlement.
InTouch SA has become one of the leaders in the mobile payment industry in Africa with partners such as Total, Orange Money Senegal, and IFAD (International Fund for Agriculture Development). To date, it has a network of 2,000 corporate customers and 50,000 TouchPoints (distribution points) in 14 countries. Far from sitting on its laurels, it is taking action to reinforce that network. The company has also built and regularly updates a catalog of over 400 digital services. It plans to establish its subsidiaries in 25 African countries and have a network of partners in every country on the continent by 2025.
Its founder and CEO, Omar Cissé, is also the administrator and co-promoter of Teranga Capital, a Dakar-based investment firm that invests in SMEs. In 2001, he co-founded 2SI, an IT engineering services provider. He managed the company from 2005 to 2010 before launching CTIC Dakar, Dakar’s first incubator.
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iHub provides a collaborative workspace, training programs, events, and networking opportunities to entrepreneurs. With its vibrant community and start-up support programs, it plays a key role in the development of technology innovation in Africa.
iHub is a technology innovation center based in Nairobi, Kenya. Founded in 2010 by Ushahidi founders Erik Hersman, Juliana Rotich, and David Kobia, it is a co-working space, startup community, and innovation platform that brings together entrepreneurs, software developers, innovators, and investors interested in developing tech solutions to address key issues in Africa.
With a global network spanning over 40 countries, it is one of the largest technology innovation communities in Africa. The center offers a collaborative work environment, training programs, events, and networking opportunities to its community members. Through its programs, start-ups can benefit from financial support, mentoring, and access to industry experts.
In February 2023, the Innovation Center partnered with the Mastercard Foundation to support education startups. The partnership led to the establishment of a three-year acceleration program targeting 36 edtech startups, of which 12 have already been selected for the first cohort.
The programs and events it organized include the Women in Business program that promotes women's entrepreneurship in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector in Kenya by helping targetted individuals create sustainable businesses. The program also provides training, coaching, funding, and networking opportunities to help beneficiaries overcome entrepreneurial barriers and strengthen their role in Africa's technology innovation.
In addition to Women in Business, iHub also implemented the Maarifa Kona Innovation Labs program from 2017 to 2019. This program supported agritech entrepreneurs from six African countries (Kenya, Uganda, Madagascar, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Rwanda) in developing their innovative ideas and boosting their entrepreneurial capacities in agriculture.
iHub has a remarkable impact on the African innovation ecosystem and has inspired more than 450 start-ups over the years. It has several international partners such as Facebook, Google, Oracle, Safaricom, the World Bank, and Seacom.
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With its training programs, workspace, and communities, ActivSpaces helps African innovators launch and grow their promising businesses.
ActivSpaces -African Center for Technology Innovation and Ventures- is an open collaboration space, technology innovation center, and startup incubator for entrepreneurs and innovators in Africa.
The Douala-based center was founded, in 2010, by Rebecca Enonchong, Valery Colong, Bill Zimmerman, and Tse Fua. Apart from that base, it also has offices in Buea and Bangangté.
It acts as a unique community that seeks to foster the growth of innovative tech startups in Cameroon. To achieve its goals, it initiated an incubation program that offers office space, Internet connection, personalized coaching, and expert support to entrepreneurs.
Its workspaces allow members access to a variety of equipment such as 3D printing, laser engraving, Arduino and Raspberry Pi systems, solar kits, etc. to bring their projects to fruition. By joining ActivSpaces' incubation program, startups benefit from the community's expertise and personalized coaching that helps them overcome the obstacles they may face while starting and growing their businesses.
The center is open to everyone. “We don’t want to be just for the elite and those that will succeed. Rather than [having] the best of the best coming to us, we wanted to reach out to the people who don’t even know they’re entrepreneurs,” said Rebecca Enonchong.
In 10 years of operation, the incubator has implemented more than 25 projects, supported more than 150 entrepreneurs, and created 10 communities. As a non-profit organization, it is supported by partners committed to entrepreneurship and innovation in Africa. These include AfriLabs, Afric'Innov, CIPMEN, Investment Partners, GIZ, Cusco International, Venture Capital for Africa, Orange, and Business France.
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iLab Liberia promotes technology and innovation in West Africa. It helps build the technical capabilities of the Liberian youth and promotes ICT for the country’s development.
iLab Liberia is a tech training center and collaborative workspace based in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. Founded in 2011 by digital champion Kate Cummings, iLab Liberia aims to build the technical capacity of Liberians and promote the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for social and economic development in the country.
Since its inception, the center has offered over 300 training courses and events to more than 3,500 students in areas such as web and mobile development, open data and visualization, data collection and analysis, geospatial and participatory mapping, physical computing and networking, coding, and other skills focused on open source technologies and relevant solutions.
It also offers entrepreneurship programs to help young Liberians start their technology businesses, as well as shared workspaces for technology professionals and innovators. In addition, it provides technology customization services for projects across West Africa, including mobile platforms for data collection and analysis, online reporting platforms for citizen engagement and good governance initiatives, geospatial mapping, and web and mobile solutions.
The center has overseen the customization and implementation of surveys with more than 30,000 respondents in urban and rural settings. It trained dozens of enumerators and helped data analysts working for governments and nonprofit organizations make the best use of the results.
For its previous activities, iLab Liberia worked closely with institutions such as USAID, World Bank, GIZ, Humanity United, Natembea, mySociety, and National Democratic Institute, among others.
In collaboration with Accountability Lab Liberia, it co-manages iCampus Liberia, a shared innovation, co-working, and community space dedicated to tech entrepreneurs and organizations. The campus it manages is both a physical and virtual space providing ICT and entrepreneurship training to the youth as well as a hub for networking and innovation. It also serves as a focal point for working with women, minorities, and digital changemakers, encouraging inclusion and promoting equitable access to digital opportunities.
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By providing workspaces, training, mentoring, and funding opportunities, CIPMEN has enabled many startups to turn their innovative ideas into successful businesses.
CIPMEN, Niger’s SMEs Incubator Center, is an ambitious and innovative business incubator that aims to stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship in Niger. The incubator, founded in 2014, has become one of the key players in the African startup ecosystem.
Led by Maman Rouffahi Koabo, an experienced IT consultant and agritech entrepreneur, it offers an extensive range of services to entrepreneurs, including workspaces, training, and mentoring. It also connects them to investors, partners, and potential customers. Startups selected to participate in its incubation program can receive personalized support to grow their businesses.
The incubator organizes events such as Café Numérique -an event initiated to discuss issues faced by local fintech startups, Hack the Goals Niger -the Niger chapter of hackathons launched by Belgian development agency Enabel to help identify innovative solutions for the achievement of sustainable development goals, and eTakara.ne -a national digital competition that aims to identify and support digital talent.
It recently issued a call for applications for a program aimed at supporting innovative projects in renewable energy, agribusiness, environment, and information and communication technologies. It also implemented several projects like CODELOCCOL, a coding academy, and CIPMEN EXPORT, a project aimed at funding agribusiness and manufacturing businesses with high export potential and good financial health.
It carries out its activities in partnership with institutions, governments, and organizations. Its partners include the Nigerien government, the World Bank, the French Development Agency (AFD), TOTAL, and GAMA Informatique.
CIPMEN has incubated 222 companies, trained over 7,901 people, and organized over 30 events. Companies such as AgriPart, Tout Azimut, City Links, and Niger Digital have all benefited from its expertise and resources to develop their businesses.
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Jokkolabs is a model in the African entrepreneurial ecosystem. Through its programs, events, and partnerships, it actively contributes to creating a dynamic and sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem on the continent.
Jokkolabs is a tech innovation and co-working network for entrepreneurs and startups. The network, created in 2010, has become a major player in the African entrepreneurial ecosystem. It was founded by Karim Sy, a Senegalese entrepreneur, to stimulate innovation and contribute to growth on the continent.
The first Jokkolabs was opened in Dakar, Senegal in 2010, and since then the network has grown rapidly. Presently, it has several centers in West Africa, Central Africa, and even France. The network offers shared workspaces, training, events, and mentoring services for startup entrepreneurs in Africa and the African diaspora.
The Jokkolabs model is based on collaboration and knowledge exchange. Its centers are designed to encourage interaction and cooperation between entrepreneurs, which fosters the creation of a dynamic and innovative ecosystem. Members have access to high-quality resources and services, as well as a valuable network of contacts that can help them grow their businesses.
The network organizes regular events, talks, and a wide range of activities. These include Jokkokids launched -in 2016 in collaboration with Help the Street Children- to stimulate creativity and collaboration among children aged 6-12 and Jokkofood which is a national food innovation competition geared towards young entrepreneurs.
In collaboration with Make Sense, Jokkolabs also launched Jokko Sense, a business breakfast for entrepreneurs with socially and environmentally impactful initiatives. It represents, coordinates, and federates the Global Entrepreneurship Week in five countries and organizes coding training sessions for teachers as part of the Africa Code Week so that they can train young people aged 8-18.
For its activities, Jokkolabs partners with several key players in the African entrepreneurial ecosystem. Its partners include Google, tuition-free coding academy Simplon, and French banking group Société Générale. These partnerships allow Jokkolabs to strengthen its impact and continue to offer high-quality programs and events to entrepreneurs.