Benedicte Mundele

Africa Youth Awards has announced its shortlisted nominees for the 2020 edition of the Pan African awards scheme that honours inspirational young Africans who are championing the development of the continent in diverse fields. With strong representation from South Africa and Ghana on the list with 19 nominees each, the award also features 18 Nigerians, 14 Kenyans, 10 Ugandans and nine Tanzanian nominees, the awards shortlisted nominees comprised of 46 females, 65 Males and 18 Organisations.

Sub-Saharan Africa is a region of the world confronted with both high unemployment and underemployment, issues that prohibit the move from poverty into wealth. These factors are particularly prevalent among the subcontinent’s young people – in fact, according to The World Bank, 60% of all those unemployed on the continent are youths, and youth unemployment occurs at twice the rate of unemployment among older people. “The situation requires urgent attention because, if the regional economy is not creating enough jobs for young people ready to enter the labour market, we are setting ourselves up for an even tougher economic future,” says Melissa Mbazo-Ekpenyong, Deputy Director of the Anzisha Prize, an initiative in partnership with African Leadership Academy and Mastercard Foundation that is a direct and deliberate response to this challenge.

Another very young entrepreneur worthy of celebration is Benedicte Mundele from the DRC who founded Surprise Tropical – an e-commerce company that delivers fresh foods all over Kinshasa – was featured on CNN in a programme highlighting business innovations tackling Africa’s unique challenges. Having been made a Fellow in 2014 at the age of just 20, she has created 13 jobs, and describes the company as a food system with a mission to promote fresh local food. She is also a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and communication officer of Kuvuna Foundation, a Leadership Institute focused on entrepreneurship.

Being a portfolio Manager to young entrepreneurs is an exciting and rewarding experience. In essence, I provide support to Anzisha Prize fellows so that they can succeed in their entrepreneurial journey. Although there is a specific support package that has been designed for each entrepreneur; the support remains limitless. It can range from a simple “how’s it going?” on WhatsApp to a trip all over Africa to meet these very young entrepreneurs. It requires reading reports, articles, participating in conferences to be up to date to better support these brilliant entrepreneurs. In other words, this work requires that one is always ready to learn.

Agence Ecofin) - In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Benedicte Mundele Kuvuna invests in the development of agricultural commodities. She is the founder of Surprise Tropicale, a company specializing in the manufacture and marketing of juices, crisps and more recently traditional dishes. According to the young woman, foodstuffs grown by farmers do not benefit from the same enthusiasm as imported products. Furthermore, she points to the fact that locally grown food is processed abroad and then resold in supermarkets across the country at high prices. To overcome this problem, she trained in food innovation and created her own business, with the aim of transforming these agricultural products on site.

63) Benedicte Mundele – Fresh food entrepreneur, Democratic Republic of Congo When Benedicte, 24, looked around the Democratic Republic of Congo, she saw lots of raw food — from potatoes to passion fruit — yet people still lived in food poverty. She says supermarkets were full of produce originally grown in the country but exported and processed with preservatives, before being re-imported at expensive prices. Fighting mistrust of local food, she founded Surprise Tropical, a canteen serving healthy take-out food, including juices and banana chips, on the outskirts of the capital, Kinshasa. Five years later, the company's online business offers fresh produce across the city, and there are plans to expand across the country.

Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences Faculty Member Zehra Sayers is the only person to make the list from Turkey (AA) Type:newsYaşamTags:BBCWomenwomen's rightsZehra Sayersgreta thunbergBBC has announced the list of the 100 most inspiring and impressive women worldwide for 2019. The list focuses on the question; “What would the future look like if it were driven by women?” The list includes various women from the worlds of activism, sports, entertainment, journalism and science, including climate change activist Greta Thunberg, the fastest British woman in history, Dina Asher-Smith, and US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Other notable names on the list include pioneering the anti-upskirt photoshoot movement Gina Martin, Oscar nominee Yalitza Aparicio, and sumo wrestler Hiyori Kon

This year’s list identifies young Africans, mostly below 30 years of age, who are doing remarkable work in their countries to facilitate development in the lives of people in their communities and throughout the continent. Check out Africa’s 30 most inspirational young people under the age 30 below:

For the first time ever, African Leadership Academy and The MasterCard Foundation are delighted to have Anzisha Prize finalists from Togo and Ivory Coast, revealing strong growth in entrepreneurship activity amongst youth in West Africa. Five young women are among the 12 finalists in the running for the $75,000 prize money that will be awarded on 23 September 2014, and will fly to Johannesburg from DRC, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa and Nigeria. The Anzisha prize scours the continent seeking to find entrepreneurial youth between the ages of 15 and 22, who have identified opportunities to better their communities and done so inclusively. This year’s finalists have started ventures in a diverse range of economic sectors including energy, health care, tourism and hospitality.