In Africa, business is booming. Africa has long been a rich continent, but the number of new startups is rising. The owners of these businesses are not all older people either. Many are young entrepreneurs with a lot of ambition.

These young company leaders are taking the business world by storm. They are leading the push for new innovations in business, technology, and the creative arts. The businesses are also growing at fast rates, providing employment and great products and services for customers.

Fore mag will be narrowing it down to Nigeria and the focus will be on the male gender.

• Age: 30
  Industry: Technology
  Company: Cars45
  Country: Nigeria

Etop Ikpe had a lot of experience in business prior to founding Cars45. He worked as the director for Konga, a large e-commerce platform in Nigeria. He also worked as the CEO of DealDey, which was the African version of “Groupon,” a popular company in the States.

Etop Ikpe founded Cars45. Cars45 is an e-commerce platform that focuses on used cars. If you want to sell your used car, Cars45 allows you to do so online. You fill out your car information, make an appointment with inspectors, get approved, and then you’re ready to sell.

• Age: 28
  Industry: Creatives
  Company: Martos Gallery
  Country: Nigeria

Kayode Ojo is an artist. Ojo’s parents are professors in Nigeria, but he was born in the States. Kayode still identifies with his Nigerian heritage heavily. It has influenced his art. He has been able to book solo art shows in locations such as New York, Paris, Berlin, and Dallas.

Ojo’s art is contemporary. His medium is sculpture, photography, and installation. He works with both people and objects, often photographing people at the end of adolescence. His photographic shows usually feature photos of just one person in the frame.

• Age: 25
  Industry: Technology
  Company:Martos Gallery
  Country: Nigeria

Adegoke Olubusi and two other cofounders (who also appear on this list) noticed that Nigeria desperately needed digitized medical records. In an interview with the New York Times, he compared the US to Nigeria. There was little healthcare regulation in Nigeria.

That lack of regulation had one upside: there was more room for innovation. Adegoke founded Helium Health. Helium Health digitizes healthcare documents. It digitizes medical records, hospital management, insurance, and billing. It also digitizes analysis software for hospitals to provide more accurate patient care.

• Age: 29
  Industry: Technology
  Company: Helium Health
  Country: Nigeria

Dimeji Sofowora is the business partner to Adegoke Olubusi and Tito Ovia. He helped found Helium Health. Dimeji was born in Nigeria, the same as his co-founders. Prior to founding Helium Health, he received an education for Queen Mary University, located in London, England.

Dimeji also worked for Goldman Sachs, Crowther Solicitors, and Aluko & Oyebode. He had a knack for technology and finances. It paid off when Helium Health went through Y Combinator in the summer of 2017. Helium managed to raise $170K in just two investment rounds.

• Age: 27
  Industry: Business
  Company: FalGates
  Country: Nigeria

Abubakar Falalu was educated at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China. He graduated from that UNNC with an MSc in Entrepreneurship. Falalu had always been a dedicated farmer. He combined these farming and entrepreneur skills to found FalGates.

FalGates is a company that mills rice. There was a gap between how much rice Nigerians consumed and how much Nigeria actually produced. Around 4.5 million tons of rice weren’t produced in Nigeria, but Falalu recognized that they could be. FalGates, employes thirty factory works and 150 farmers. His company has a 5K metric ton capacity.

• Age: 19
  Industry: Business
  Company: HEAD OF STATE
  Country: Nigeria

Taofeek Abijako is the youngest member on this list. Taofeek just graduated high school. He was born in Nigeria in the city of Lagos. His father, like Taofeek himself, was a fashion designer. Taofeek was interested in painting and soccer in school before switching to design.

His story is pretty amazing. He created an entire fashion line in his room while he was in high school. He tweeted about his work, and a Japanese retailer called him not too long after. The fashion line, HEAD OF STATE, took off. Taofeek just recently presented at NYFW.

• Age: 28
  Industry: Business
  Company: NFL
  Country: Nigeria

Emmanuel Acho is a Nigerian athlete. He played football in America, even getting to play in the National Football League as a linebacker. Now, Acho works as an ESPN analyst. However his roles as an athlete and sports commentator are secondary to his humanitarian work.

Acho and his family are deeply involved in mission trips to Nigeria with their church. Acho’s parents formed Living Hope Christian Ministries, which delivers medical care to Nigerians. Acho continues to return to Nigeria, stating that he has lost count of how many times he has gone back to serve as a missionary.

• Age: 25
  Industry: Technology
  Company: Lightning Labs
  Country: Nigeria

Olaoluwa Osuntokun is a Nigerian immigrant who founded Lightning Labs. Osuntokun received an education from the University of California in Santa Barbara. His degree was Bachelor of Arts and Science. Olaoluwa became interested in the possibilities of digital transactions, and he decided to take that to the next level.

Lightning Labs, his company, seeks to make digital currencies easier to use. The company is a private protocol platform that lets people make private, fast transactions from anywhere in the world.  The company raised an astounding $2.5 million in funding during investment rounds.

• Age: 27
  Industry: Technology
  Company: Fibre
  Country: Nigeria

Obinna Okwodu was born in America, but he returned to Nigeria shortly after his birth. He is the son of Nigerian parents and one of three kids in his family. While he did return to America to get his degree at MIT in Massachusetts, he moved back to Lagos a year after obtaining it.

Obinna’s company, Fibre, wants to make life easier in Africa for middle-income tenants. In Lagos, landlords often make people pay two years’ rent upfront before allowing them to move in. Fibre lets people pay monthly to rent, making the rental process way easier.

• Age: 27
  Industry: Technology
  Company: Beni American University
  Country: Nigeria

Gossy Ukanwoke received the nickname “Nigeria’s Mark Zuckerberg,” comparing him to the famous American Facebook founder. Ukanwoke decided to found his own university at the young age of 23. He got the idea from engaging with people who used his other business, Student’s Circle. Student’s Circle was a platform allowing people to access resources from major schools.

Many students wanted certificates that would help them with employment. So, Ukanwoke started Beni American University. BAU has ten instructors and two-hundred students so far. The web courses run twelve weeks, costing $100-$300.