Anzisha Fellows 2019

Seeing how her classmates and other youth struggled to find jobs after completing university, Asia Saeed knew she needed to take action. She started two companies, Hello Cunto Fudud and Ashiya Digital Library. Both companies failed. But this was not to be a deterrent for Asia, but rather the extra motivation she needed to succeed and provide hope to the youth of Somalia. She founded 2doon. 2doon is a social enterprise established to reduce unemployment…

Emmanuel Agyei was always interested in journalism. His father is a journalist. But his uncle managed to shift his focus to a world of technology and marketing. It was then he realised the importance of communication and information tools within organisations. Thus, bringing to life Campus Trends Ghana, which he co-founded. Campus Trends Ghana is a marketing firm providing advice, quantitative and qualitative solutions, marketing and communication services to bridge the gap between the firm…

Born in Moyamba Town, Sierra Leone, Velache Coker was determined to become a professional footballer. But after some false starts, he found himself pursuing entrepreneurship. While spending some time in The Gambia with his family, Velache became aware of the shortage of farmers within the country and vowed to change the agricultural landscape in his home country, Sierra Leone. By the age of 19, Velache had started 3 businesses. Most of them have been discontinued,…

Caleb Annobil became aware of the dangers of unclean water after the death of his friend due to cholera and his trials of accessing clean water. While in high school, Caleb met Youssif and the two began drafting ideas on how to provide clean water to young children like themselves. Youssif would later become the co-founder of High School Water. High School Water Product under IYC Life Company Limited is an enterprise which customises sachet…

Jariatou Jallow is a second-year Computer Science student at the University of The Gambia and she also serves as the Education & Research Director of the University’s School of Information Communication Technology Association (UTG-ITCA). While some of her friends in The Gambia are thinking of ways to get to Europe    she is fuelled and fulfilled by projects that solve issues in her community. In 2017, she became the Gambian based FPG intern coordinating the…

An advocate for equality, Balbina Gulam is passionate about fair pay, healthy working conditions and making sure women are treated with dignity. Balbina has grown to become a proud tech-champion and an inspiring icon to the young women of her community. Balbina is the founder of Huduma Smart, an enterprise that trains domestic workers and provides a job market for them via their website, where employers can recruit workers of their choice according to the…

Raghda’s work with young people began when she was in university and she was heavily involved with activities and clubs that empowered students to gain knowledge and practical experience. Her time spent working in a few startups gave her the idea to start a business that connects talent with global opportunities through remote work. Remoteplatz connects fresh software engineers who seek work experience with international early-stage start-ups through practical remote internship and job opportunities. These…

In his third year of University, Cecil Chikezie found out that the Kenyan government issued a nationwide ban on charcoal. This heavily affected Cecil’s family as they were very reliant on the material for basic day-to-day use. Charcoal prices spiked and Cecil was inspired to search for more sustainable and cheaper fuel alternatives. He discovered that fuel briquettes made from carbonized agricultural refuse were a feasible fuel alternative, but they were not easily accessible in…

Yannick Kimanuka grew up in North Kivu Eastern Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where the city has been shaken by extreme violence and ethnic wars for more than two decades. Raised by a single mother, Yannick noticed that school children in her area had limited access to quality education.

In 2012, Saudah lost her brother to diarrhoea due to the lack of access to clean water in school. She had just graduated from high school and had to drop out unable to pay her school fees. It was then, that she vowed to make sure school children, homes and communities like hers had access to clean water. In 2014, she teamed up with a water engineer and plumber to start crafting the idea of…

Catherine Nalukwago fell into entrepreneurship through her interest in agriculture in Uganda. While at university, she and two other friends wanted to help impoverished urban households grow their food through sack gardening. Later, she led the process of designing an aquaponics urban program to be incorporated into micro-farming in a bid to boost nutrition in the city. However, this didn’t pan out. Having faced challenges with sack gardens, Catherine was urged to make it more…

Olipah Chomba started her chicken farm as a survivalist entrepreneur. With aspirations to finish her medical degree, Olipah left her studies due to health issues and discovered her passion for farming. Not long after pursuing her farming activities and receiving support from her brother, Olipah founded Poultry. Poultry is a poultry enterprise which orders broiler chicken, nurtures them for a period six weeks by providing them with the necessary vaccines and medicine. When the product…