Rise Of Generational Builders: How Young African Entrepreneurs Are Leading Continent’s Renewal
By Oyewole Sarumi
I don’t know if you have discovered this: Africa’s youth are not waiting, they’re leading, because across Africa, a quiet but undeniable revolution is underway. In city slums and digital hubs, in farmlands and solar labs, in sewing rooms and mobile apps, young Africans are rewriting the rules of leadership. They are not asking for permission. They are building solutions.
With over 400 million people aged 15 to 35, Africa holds the world’s youngest population. But beyond the statistics lies a deeper truth: the continent’s renewal is being led not by presidents or CEOs, but by young entrepreneurs who are reimagining what it means to lead, grow, and prosper.
From a 14-year-old in Uganda creating jobs through sweater-making to a Moroccan craftswoman digitizing traditional weaving techniques, these are not anomalies. They are the new archetypes of African leadership. This piece is to showcase the great strides African youths are making, and challenge stakeholders to rally round them through support and commensurate policies now and in the future.
Beyond Population: Africa’s Youth as Builders of Destiny
Africa’s demographic story is often framed as a looming crisis, millions of unemployed youths, weak job markets, crumbling education systems. But in every challenge, youth are finding opportunity.
Take the example of a young logistics innovator in Lagos, Nigeria, who redesigned the parcel delivery system using AI and GPS. Or a group of stewards on Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway, trained, disciplined, and setting a new bar for service professionalism.
These stories are scattered across the continent like sparks. The question is no longer whether Africa’s youth can lead. The question is whether the rest of the world, and indeed the continent itself—will recognize and invest in their leadership.
Entrepreneurship as Leadership in Action
Entrepreneurship, for many African youths, is not about chasing unicorn status. It is a response to broken systems. A 22-year-old in Gambia launched an herbal tea company that connects local farmers to climate-smart training via a mobile app. In Rwanda, electric bus start-ups led by young engineers are reducing carbon emissions while creating clean energy jobs.
These are not just business moves, they are leadership acts. They involve vision, community engagement, resourcefulness, and a relentless drive to solve real problems. The continent’s best young entrepreneurs are not just selling products; they are building dignity, inclusion, and prosperity.
Case Study: From Tailoring to Training—The Ugandan Example
At just 14, a boy from Kampala started a sweater-making cooperative, initially to support his siblings after losing his parents. Today, that venture has grown into a vocational training hub for youth in his community. Through Namirembe Sweater Makers, he didn’t just create jobs, he sparked a movement for youth self-sufficiency.
Leadership in Africa is not only about running governments or corporations. It is about solving everyday problems with dignity and purpose. And our youth are blazing the trail!
Education Meets Innovation: A New Breed of African Learning
In Ethiopia, a vocational school collaborated with foreign partners to train students in robotics and mechatronics. One graduate went on to win global recognition at the Belt and Road International Skills Competition, proof that African youth can compete and lead on any stage.
From Luban Workshops in East Africa to coding boot camps in Ghana and tech hubs in Rwanda, the shift is clear: education in Africa is being reinvented. Youth are not just learning to pass exams, they are learning to create, adapt, and lead.
Institutions like the African Leadership Academy have recognized this trend early, equipping teens with both entrepreneurial tools and leadership mindsets. Their Anzisha Prize fellowship, for example, has funded over 200 youth-led businesses that together created more than 3,000 jobs.
Moroccan Craft, Modern Vision: A Female-Led Renaissance
A young woman in Casablanca saw her grandmother’s weaving craft disappearing. So, she launched a business—Boucharouette Eco-Création, that digitizes design processes while preserving traditional artistry. In doing so, she revived cultural heritage, employed women, and modernized a fading tradition.
This blend of heritage and innovation is distinctly African, and distinctly youthful. It is leadership rooted in respect for the past but built for the future.
Building Ecosystems, Not Just Startups
What’s striking about these young African entrepreneurs is not just what they build, but how they do it. They focus on relationships, community, and impact, not just growth metrics.
Many shifts from competition to collaboration. For example, the Anzisha Prize evolved from a one-time award to a sustained fellowship. It focuses on community building, peer learning, and mentorship. Entrepreneurship becomes not just about launching a business but about building an ecosystem.
And this ecosystem is expanding. From Senegal’s digital marketplaces to Tanzania’s agritech cooperatives, youth-led ventures are solving complex challenges like food security, gender inequality, and clean energy access.
Leadership Lessons from the Frontlines of Youth Innovation
Young African entrepreneurs offer essential leadership insights that formal institutions often overlook:
Start small, solve real problems. The most impactful ventures often emerge from personal pain or local dysfunction.
Think globally, act locally. From Kigali to Accra, Cairo to Capetown, youth are designing solutions that are contextually grounded but globally scalable.
Empower, don’t extract. These leaders reinvest profits into training, community development, or environmental sustainability.
Use what you have. With limited funding, youth are proving that ingenuity often matters more than investment.
They are turning constraint into creativity, scarcity into systems, and informal sectors into impact engines.
Sustainability as a Core Value
Africa’s youth are disproportionately affected by climate change, and they are responding with urgency. In Kenya and Nigeria, youth-led clean tech ventures are turning waste into fuel and designing solar-powered irrigation systems for smallholder farmers.
These leaders are not preaching sustainability; they are practicing it. They understand that prosperity must be regenerative. As stewards of Africa’s forests, rivers, and coastlines, they are redefining growth to mean more than GDP.
Support Systems: Who Needs to Show Up
Youth can only go so far alone. The path to prosperity must be co-designed. Educators, policymakers, parents, and investors all have roles to play:
Educators must teach entrepreneurship as a life skill, not just a subject.
Governments must remove bureaucratic barriers and create youth-friendly policies.
Investors must be willing to take risks on under-25 founders.
Parents and communities must stop stigmatizing vocational paths and non-traditional careers.
Africa’s youth are ready. The question is whether the rest of us are.
Stories Matter: Inspiration is Fuel
African youth need more than opportunities; they need belief and our support. And belief often begins with visibility. When they see someone like them succeeding, not on Instagram, but in their neighbourhood, it redefines what’s possible.
That’s why stories like that of the Gambian herbalist, the Ugandan sweater maker, and the Moroccan designer matter. They are not exceptions—they are blueprints. Sharing them widely isn’t vanity—it’s strategy.
Conclusion:
This is a leadership revolution in real time by the African youth. Let us note that Africa is not a continent in waiting, it is a continent in building. Its architects? Young entrepreneurs with laptops and looms, apps and aprons, solar panels and sewing machines that litters the nations. They are the living answer to the question, “Who will lead us next?”
For policymakers, development professionals, and business leaders seeking real change, the lesson is simple: look to where the energy is. It is not in government buildings. It is in classrooms, kiosks, fields, and co-working spaces.
Africa’s youth are already leading, by example, by impact, by necessity. It’s time the rest of us support them to catch up with the rest of the world and even lead in this digital age.
Prof. Sarumi is the Chief Strategic Officer, LMS DT Consulting, Faculty, Prowess University, US, and ICLED Business School, and writes from Lagos, Nigeria Tel. 234 803 304 1421, Email: [email protected].
