Meet our 25Under25 winners for 2020
Meet the people who are making a difference in their community – they’re both dreamers and doers.
ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP & GOVERNMENT ENGAGEMENT
FOLORUNSHO OLUFUNKE RUTH
Olufunke Folorunsho is an Author, Dream Coach, Global Influencer, Civil Engagement Advocate, Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) Alumna and Mentor at Evolve mentorship program. Olufunke Folorunsho has over 7 years of experience in the community development sector, specifically focusing on school campaign and scholarship, community reach-out program and restoring hope to the hopeless. Founder at Hopespring To Africa where she focuses on initiating, designing, and implementing strategic activities and vision vehicle to impact life especially the less privileged and eradicating poverty She is driven by her commitment and passion in seeing people fulfilling their dreams; During her NYSC she Authored a book called MOTEMI – A Story of hope and determination which 150 copies was distributed to students in secondary schools for free. Upon completion of her NYSC in July 2019, she joined Polaris Bank Limited (formal Skye Bank) as a relationship officer in August 2019. She holds a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Mass Communication from Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, Ogun State and currently 300 level student at Bowen University Iwo Osun State. Olufunke plans to continue her work in reaching-out to her community with a focus on helping the less privileged and eradicating poverty.
AGRICULTURE
OLADEPO ELIZABETH - 07 FOODS
Elizabeth Oladepo is an Agro-preneur and the founder of 07 Foods, an indigenous company established to ensure the sustainable production, addition of value, sales and distribution of agricultural produce. Their products, the Yam and Unripe Plantain Flour which is NAFDAC certified, is sourced directly from small scale farmers in the local communities thereby contributing to the socio-economic improvement and fostering of a better lifestyle for especially the farmers. The raw materials are hygienically processed into easy to prepare, nutritious, and wholesome packaged products which can be accessed in over 15 stores in Lagos and also through their social media handles, @07Foods. 07 Foods has helped families stay healthy and happy over 1000 times by providing them CONVENIENCE in using and accessing their products. They have also engaged over 15 amazing individuals in their value chain in the pursuit of the goal- impact creation.
ARTS & CULTURE
OLOWOKUDEJO OLASUNMBO AYOTOMIDE (TANNA CRAFTS)
I am Olowokudejo Olasunmbo Ayotomide, a graduate of Accounting from the University of Lagos. I am the creative director of Tannacraft. I am a lady with the passion of redefining the true essence of beauty by embracing our African culture through our locally sourced African prints which are used to make the handcrafted bags, footwear, accessories and souvenirs. Tanna crafts started as a result of my love for the African prints and also wanting to do more and explore with the African prints which has led to the creativity of the brand. I believe our African prints can do much more than just sewing it into different styles of outfits and this is seen in our beautiful collections of Ankara bags, footwears and even notepads. We delight in absolute customer satisfaction with our neatly finished crafted items. We are located in Lagos, Nigeria and our vision is embracing the African culture with the aim of creating beautiful handcrafted items with the African prints thereby moving the African prints globally.
BEAUTY & MAKEUP
OJOMO OMOSEYITAN CYNTHIA - POSE BY PONMI ENTERPRISES
POSE by Ponmi Enterprises is a registered, growing Nigerian beauty brand that produces originally formulated cosmetics which includes skincare products and bespoke perfumes. POSE by Ponmi was founded by Cynthia Omoseyitan Ojomo who was born on 7th of March 1996, an indigene of Owo, Ondo state and a Master’s degree holder in Communication and Media Studies from Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria. POSE by Ponmi was established in 2016 and later ventured into the beauty industry in 2018 as a result of passion and the desire to restore the confidence of women in their complexions and embrace the use of natural products to reduce the rate of bleaching and application of harsh and harmful chemicals on the skin, most especially by women. We operate on the values of Passion(P), Originality(O), Skillfulness(S) and Elegance(E). We aim to be a world class brand recognized for embracing, restoring and promoting lost confidence in quality natural products; the natural beauty in the complexion of people of color while creating quality products and maintaining customer relationships. Thanks to this platform provided by the SME 100 Africa 25UNDER25 Awards, we are steady getting recognition that will help achieve our goal and help represent Nigeria in the continental and global market.
CREATIVE WRITING
OGHENETEGA ENYOYI
Oghenetega Enyoyi. a Graduate of Sociology from Covenant University, I am 21 years old. I am a full time Banker and Content Creator, also a Make up Artist and Natural hair Enthusiast/ Brand Ambassador for a Hair Brand. I am an advocate for self love and self confidence, I believe in owning your beauty, loving yourself irrespective of your flaws and insecurities. I am the last born and the only girl out of three. I also own a youtube channel called Tega Clifford; which is my Brand Name. I love watching movies, shooting and editing videos, being in front of a camera, listening to music and creating content. I officially started my brand in 2018 as a Content Creator, Self-love Advocate and a Youtuber. I decided to create a youtube channel with the aim of building a strong online community with a sense of Belonging and Truth. My Brand focuses on Lifestyle, Beauty, Natural hair, Family, Self-Love and Confidence, Drama and Fun. TEGA CLIFFORD was born from a painful life experience of being bullied and humiliated for my Body Figure and my Dentition. I decided to create a channel to reach and build a community of strong and beautiful people who can speak their truth and be proud of who they are irrespective of imperfections. I have over 2,300 subscribers and over 165,000 views on my channel. My unique selling point is ME. I AM MY BRAND AND MY BRAND IS ME.
EDUCATION
DEPEJU LASAKI - LEADERS READ NETWORK
Leaders Read Network is a platform where we help kids who may dislike reading become massive booklovers and adults who want to incorporate reading the books on their shelves into their daily activities. The reading culture is slowly fading away in our society, many individuals do not know how to stick with good habits anymore (like reading quality books). Attention is about the scarcest commodity today. Reading helps children and adults improve their creativity, consume information in a constructive way and improve learning in other areas. In Young Readers’ Academy (a subset of Leaders Read Network), we teach and engage kids by giving them well selected books that interest them, help them tell stories, twist story lines and engage them in daily reading. We also have a business book club where we read biographies of great entrepreneurs. Here, we help adults create reading plans that suit their daily activities, action plans for execution and accountability programs. Our society needs more productive individuals who can learn the strategies that will make our country a better place to live. Leaders Read Network was founded by Depeju LASAKI who is also known as The Effective Reading Coach.
ENVIRONMENTAL & INTERIOR DECOR
SALLY OGBONNA - INHAUS DESIGN ARCHITECTS
Sally Ogbonna is a master’s degree holder from the University of Lagos (Master of Environmental Design), with an eye for detail and a spirit of excellence. She is also a certified Happiness Coach from Transformation Academy. The young entrepreneur is the founder and Creative Director of one of Inhaus Design Architects; A design studio that specializes in Architectural design, interior design, graphics and art consultation for the hospitality, retail, commercial and residential industries. Our design style is true modern contemporary, taking the basic elements of design: color, light, texture and pattern while carefully applying more calculating principles: balance, proportion, scale, rhythm and contrast to create a harmonious functional space. Our mission is simple, working with people to create beautiful homes and environments through inspiration and design. We aim to positively influence the lives of our clients leaving a lasting impression. At Inhaus Design Architects, we have created smart, flexible and affordable services that work for all of our clients. No matter what your needs are, our team of design experts will go out of their way to customize our offerings to your demands. From start to finish, we will take you through every step of the process, and all the way to a stunning result. Our services include: Design Consultation, Space Planning, Custom furniture, Procurements and Project Management. We are Driven to create a better world through design. With Inhaus Design Architects, Live your dream.
EVENTS PLANNING
OLUWAJIMI TEMITOPE
INDIGOCRYSTAL CONCEPT is a full Event Management Company that offers event Consultancy, Planning/Management and Design for both Corporate and Social Events. Our aim is to help our clients achieve their dream events by giving expression to the kind of events they dream of. With our dynamic ways of operation, we give the extra touch that goes beyond the conventional, and create for them an unforgettable experience we include our professional skills based on creativity and innovation. We make imaginations real
FASHION
AKINOLA ADERINSOLA - QUINTESSENTIAL COUTURE
Akinola Aderinsola, a fashion designer and a 4th year Medical student in the University of Ibadan. I started a fashion brand, Quintessential Couture in 2018, because I had not found my perfect dress. Quintessential Couture, is an emerging fashion brand that caters to middle-class Nigerian ladies between the ages of 16 and 50, by bridging the gap between yearning for affordable luxurious outfits and obtaining them. As such, affordable fabrics are sourced for, worked on through intricate detailing, sewn to fit the unique figure of the African woman, all within Nigeria, hence reducing the need and cost of importing equivalents of such outfits. Presently, Quintessential Couture is a sole proprietor business, located in Oyo state, Nigeria, with 80% of its clientele being female University students. I design and sew from home, however, in coming years, there will be expansion by acquiring a building, so as to employ tailors, delegate and eventually proceed to cater for the Nigerian male population as well.
FINTECH
JIL TOKENS
JIL was “birthed” in late August of 2018. It was created because we recognized the many issues associated with traditional cryptocurrency and at the same time, we saw that the world of crypto had not yet achieved mainstream acceptance. Upon examining the possible reasons as to why, such as volatility, confusing terminology, and complex acquisitions, this set us on a mission to solve these problems and our J1 token is destined to be the answer.
FOOD & DRINKS
HEPHZIBAH FREGENE - ZEELICIOUS CAKESS
I am a nominee in the Food and Drink Category and my name is Hephzibah Fregene CEO of Zeeliciouscakess. I am 19 years old, also from Delta state and I am currently in my second year studying Theatre Arts in the University of Benin. I believe in the Bible and in Jesus Christ. I enjoy reading books, because it enables me learn new things. I’m a strong believer that all work without play just isn’t right, so I like to hang out with friends and have a good time. I dislike noisy environments, simply because it just isn’t me. At the age of 16, I developed a passion for cakes and after graduating from Secondary School, I fully entered the Confectionery World to explore my passion for sweets and treats and that was how my brand Zeelicious cakes came to be. Zeeliciouscakess is an innovative brand aimed at providing a variety of mouth-watering cakes, donuts, small chops and desserts for events. My cakes are made from the highest quality ingredients and love. One of the reasons I started Zeeliciouscakess was to provide affordable cakes to people my age bracket seeing how challenging it could be as a student to purchase a cake. Our products appeal to all teens and adults who are given the opportunity to make a choice concerning the design and flavor of cake they would prefer. In 5 years, I envision that Zeelicious Cakes would have become a large company that makes a huge impact in the Confectionery World and does a lot to give back to society through empowerment and training.
HEALTH & SKINCARE
DR. OLUWANANUMI - HEALTHDRIVENG
HealthDrive Nigeria (HDN) was founded with a transformational goal; Help save lives of millions living with Hepatitis and those at risk of getting infected, in the developing world. HealthDrive Nigeria (HDN) serves to tackle this menace of Hepatitis by creating rigorous awareness about it through the conduction of Health talks to the general public and secondary schools, public seminars and conferences, screening and vaccinating people and also referring Hepatitis B positive people to the nearest specialist or Teaching Hospitals in the community or state.
MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS
ADEBIMPE OLAJIGA - TV PRESENTER
Olajiga Adebimpe aka Erin is a multimedia personality, spontaneous Red-carpet host, digital content creator at punch Newspaper, photo journalist and entrepreneur who has worked in a number of broadcast media platforms in Nigeria. Adebimpe is a proud alumnus and graduate of Ekiti State University . As an undergraduate, she was part of the student entrepreneurial body called Enactus and several other media and press outfits within and outside her department. While networking, discovering herself and carrying out her responsibilities in these societies, she was exposed to public speaking and events planning. Her journey into media started in 2014 when she became a presenter at Ekiti Television (EKTV). Subsequently, she was able to hone her skills in writing, content creation and production, voice over artistry, and event hosting. She has graced quite a number of media platforms and now currently works with punch newspaper as a presenter, video and picture journalist as well as digital content creator. Apart from her love for presentation and content creation, she is also a lover of art, nature, good music and movies. She is an Incurable Optimist, very down to earth, easy going by nature and blunt too. She looks forward to becoming an internationally acclaimed journalist/broadcaster, TV personality, media mogul and a great mum.
PERFORMING ART
APAOKAGI ADEDOYIN MARYAM
Apaokagi Adedoyin Maryam (born February 28, 1999) is a Nigerian comedian, content creator and cinematographer. In 2019, she gained notability for an acting duo role and rose to prominence. Same year, she won Best Online Comedian at The Gage Awards 2019. She is the founder of “Chop Tao”, a food company and a director at “The Greenade company”, a Cinematography firm.
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
VICTORIA OSUNKOYA - CAREER HIVE
Victoria Osunkoya’s work explores the future of human capital and its impact on business, people, and the future of work. She is the founder and Managing Partner of Career Hive, a consulting firm committed to usher young professionals into the era of digital transformation and help graduates prepare for the rapidly changing future of work by bridging the gap between education and employment which in turn will result in increase in human and social capital accumulation, productivity, employability, as well as increased earnings. She has several years of experience in HR and specializes in creating employee experiences that mirror best customer experiences with people at the heart and powered by technology and data. Previously, Victoria has worked for Chicken Republic a subsidiary of Food Concepts Plc, one of the largest QSR in Nigeria and Africa as a whole where she took on key HR role. She currently works as the Human Resource Manager with Manuchar Trading House Int’l Ltd with head office in Belgium and presence in over 150 countries. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Resource Management and a Master’s degree in Management Science both from the University of Lagos. Till date, Victoria has helped over 1000 graduates gain critical job readiness skills as well as land their first employment opportunity. In addition, Victoria has been privileged to be recognized by Pan Atlantic-University as one of the top rising 50 Young Talents Professionals in Nigeria in 2019.
SOFTWARE & DESIGN
OLUWADAMILOLA SOYOMBO - CREATIVE KIDS ZONE
I am Oluwadamilola Soyombo, a 23-year-old UI/UX Designer in Lagos, Nigeria. I have vast experience in UI/UX design working in that capacity across several industries in 3 continents. I love transforming complex issues into straightforward interface designs and building products that people love. I also speak and mentor those interested in learning Design and I look forward to sharing my knowledge through speaking at conferences around the world. In 2019, I started “The Creative Kids Zone”, a fully registered not-for-profit organization set up to train kids in technology; we are on a mission to expand creativity in as many kids as possible by training and empowering them with the technological skill set, thereby increasing the number of young minds in Tech and preparing for the Future. TCKZone reaches out to thousands of kids in African communities and makes them ambassadors for technology, by organizing free training to introduce your kids to technology, coding, design, robotics, AI, game development amongst others. In the last One year, TCKZone has been involved in training over 1000 kids between the ages of 5 -16 in Primary and Secondary Schools for free. Our objectives are simple: * To make kids enthusiastic about learning technology. * To introduce kids to the world of information technology. * To educate kids with the skills they need for the jobs of the future. * To create young ambassadors for technology (STEM). * To assist the less privileged kids in the society through the provision of an enabling environment to learn information technology.
SPORTS
ADELOWO SHOKUNBI - PRIME SPORTS NG
Adelowo Shokunbi, the Founder Prime Sports ( @primesportsng ) and Kick Off Nigeria ( @kickoff_ng ) that is focused on building the standard of sports in Nigeria, whilst granting home-based athletes with a platform as well as its audience with a complete entertaining experience Prime Sports has hosted 2 headlining athletics event in 2016 & 2018 and 2 headlining Football event tagged ‘Kick Off Lagos’ in 2018 & 2019 as well as other events in collaboration with brands They were recognized as the first to sell tickets to an athletics event in Lagos and still have a great number of audience turnout.
TECHNOLOGY
OLADOKUN OLUWASEGUN - ALI EMPRESA
Oladokun Oluwasegun is passionate about the development of African society. He is a Nigerian serial Internet entrepreneur, computer programmer, and the winner of the Hackvote Hackathon 2018 when he provided technology solution to reduce voter apathy. His efficiency and abilities have landed him contracts with many companies as representative/ ambassador. Companies like: Unilever Nigeria, Ingressive LLC, and a facilitator for Andela in Imo State. Oluwasegun has competency in android development, web development, UI/UX design, and project management. Oluwasegun has been featured on several national and international media publications, like Techpoint Africa, Techeconomy, 4kreport, Voplink, Thefuture, and many others for his strides in the tech ecosystem. ABOUT ALI EMPRESA ALI Empresa is a company that provides technological solutions to problems in different sectors. ALI Empresa is the proud owner of the African Leadership Institute, one of the fastest-growing massive open online course (MOOC) platforms in Africa with over 6,000 users/learners. An Optimal utilization of AI and interactive peer-to-peer environment for the new learning of the 21st century, providing an alternative perspective aimed at increasing the e-learning completion rate by 30%. Our solution allows for learners to learn from industry experts to update their knowledge to industry-standard thereby breeding Job-ready individuals who can solve complex social problems and create value for their stakeholders. A.L.I is the national winner of the #OneHack Hackathon by IncubateIND and proceeded to compete with 20 countries on the world stage and came out 3rd. Follow our activities on social media platforms with #LearnWithALI Africanleadershipinstitution.com