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Laureen Kouassi-Olsson

African Changemaker

Laureen Kouassi-Olsson

Laureen is a seasoned executive in the African financial services and private equity industries.

She has over a decade of experience in investing in private companies and financial institutions on the African Continent.

Born in Cote d’Ivoire, Laureen is leveraging her extensive networks in the finance industry to create new pathways to capital for African entrepreneurs. She is the Founder and CEO of Birimian Ventures , a long-term investment company championing African heritage luxury and premium brands by providing patient capital, institutional support, strategic advice and operational excellence.


Her professional achievements and commitments have gained significant recognition within the African private equity industry. Laureen has twice been nominated for the Choiseul Institute’s list of Emerging Economic Leaders.

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Did you know that over 525 million people used the internet in Africa in 2019? If current growth trends continue, almost 75% of Africans are expected to come online by 2030.
Senegalese eMobility and energy startup Solarbox Africa announced the successful closure of a $1 million pre-seed funding round.
Lamine Tall is a Senegalese computer scientist and entrepreneur, serving as the Co-Founder and CEO of Cauri Money, a fintech company established in 2019.
Visa has announced the 19 African startups selected to participate in the third cohort of its Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator program.
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Sim Shagaya

African Changemaker

Sim Shagaya

Sim is a Nigerian media and technology entrepreneur and a strong advocate for education in Africa.

This drive pushed him to found uLesson Education, an app providing access to quality education for African learners. The app offers courses in math, science, and English and is available in English and French.

Sim’s mission is to make quality education available to everyone, regardless of their social or economic status.
He graduated from George Washington University and holds a Masters Degree in Engineering from Dartmouth College.

Sim also previously founded Konga, one of West Africa’s largest e-commerce platforms.

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Did you know that over 525 million people used the internet in Africa in 2019? If current growth trends continue, almost 75% of Africans are expected to come online by 2030.
Senegalese eMobility and energy startup Solarbox Africa announced the successful closure of a $1 million pre-seed funding round.
Lamine Tall is a Senegalese computer scientist and entrepreneur, serving as the Co-Founder and CEO of Cauri Money, a fintech company established in 2019.
Visa has announced the 19 African startups selected to participate in the third cohort of its Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator program.
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Catherine Nakalembe

African Changemaker

Catherine Nakalembe

Catherine is a Ugandan environmental scientist using satellite remote sensing to generate data to formulate policies and programs to protect farmers from the effects of food failure.

She holds a Ph.D. in Geographical Science from the University of Maryland. Her research aimed to highlight the consequences of drought on land use and the lives of North-eastern Ugandans. The research was the first step in forming the basis of the remote sensing element of the disaster risk financing project, which has supported over 75,000 households in the region.

Catherine is currently serving as an Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland.
She is also the Africa Program Director at NASA Harvest, a multidisciplinary Consortium commissioned to enhance the use of satellite data in decision-making related to food security and agriculture domestically and globally.

Catherine’s contribution to making Africa food secure has earned her several accolades, including the Africa Food Prize from the Alliance for Green revolution (AGRA).

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Did you know that over 525 million people used the internet in Africa in 2019? If current growth trends continue, almost 75% of Africans are expected to come online by 2030.
Senegalese eMobility and energy startup Solarbox Africa announced the successful closure of a $1 million pre-seed funding round.
Lamine Tall is a Senegalese computer scientist and entrepreneur, serving as the Co-Founder and CEO of Cauri Money, a fintech company established in 2019.
Visa has announced the 19 African startups selected to participate in the third cohort of its Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator program.
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Chinedu Echeruo

African Changemaker

Chinedu Echeruo

Chinedu is a successful serial entrepreneur and an entrepreneurial ecosystem builder. Born in Nigeria, Chinedu has founded several companies over the past two decades.

In 2005, he co-founded HopStop.com, a popular app that helped millions of users navigate public transportation worldwide. Apple acquired HopStop in 2013 and subsequently incorporated much of HopStop’s functionality into Apple Maps.

Chinedu describes himself as a visionary leader, a human-centered problem solver, an educator, a guide and a generous mentor focused on helping others discover their Superpowers.

Today, Chinedu operates his Love & Magic Company, a start-up studio that co-builds companies with innovative organizations.
He has previously been named one of the “10 Most Powerful People in Africa” by Forbes.

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Did you know that over 525 million people used the internet in Africa in 2019? If current growth trends continue, almost 75% of Africans are expected to come online by 2030.
Senegalese eMobility and energy startup Solarbox Africa announced the successful closure of a $1 million pre-seed funding round.
Lamine Tall is a Senegalese computer scientist and entrepreneur, serving as the Co-Founder and CEO of Cauri Money, a fintech company established in 2019.
Visa has announced the 19 African startups selected to participate in the third cohort of its Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator program.
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Winnifred Selby

African Changemaker

Winnifred Selby

Winnifred is an award-winning, multi-talented Ghanaian social entrepreneur who strongly advocates for women’s empowerment.

She has dedicated much of her life to the economic empowerment of young people in her community through various initiatives. She Co-Founded Ghana Bamboo Bikes Initiative at the age of 15 before she decided to move on with her life to pursue other interests.

She went on to found “Winnie’s Women World Initiative,” which empowers women and young girls to break shells of cultural limitation to achieve their goals and promote education in Ghana without restrictions.

The initiative aims to build women’s capacity through Technical, Vocational Education and Training.
Winniefred is a recipient of several accolades, including the Queens Young Leaders Award.

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Did you know that over 525 million people used the internet in Africa in 2019? If current growth trends continue, almost 75% of Africans are expected to come online by 2030.
Senegalese eMobility and energy startup Solarbox Africa announced the successful closure of a $1 million pre-seed funding round.
Lamine Tall is a Senegalese computer scientist and entrepreneur, serving as the Co-Founder and CEO of Cauri Money, a fintech company established in 2019.
Visa has announced the 19 African startups selected to participate in the third cohort of its Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator program.
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Victor Asemota

African Changemaker

Victor Asemota

Victor is a serial tech entrepreneur and venture capitalist who has contributed significantly to Africa’s tech ecosystem.

Born in Nigeria, he has been a pioneer in the African Information Technology industry, with his experience spanning more than two decades.

He is the Founder of Swifta Systems, a pioneer African software and technology services group with subsidiaries and operations in several African countries.


Victor sits on the boards of well-known financial technology and investment companies across Africa. He is also the board chairman of EdoInnovates, a board member of PlaceFund, and the Africa partner for Alta Global Ventures.

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Did you know that over 525 million people used the internet in Africa in 2019? If current growth trends continue, almost 75% of Africans are expected to come online by 2030.
Senegalese eMobility and energy startup Solarbox Africa announced the successful closure of a $1 million pre-seed funding round.
Lamine Tall is a Senegalese computer scientist and entrepreneur, serving as the Co-Founder and CEO of Cauri Money, a fintech company established in 2019.
Visa has announced the 19 African startups selected to participate in the third cohort of its Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator program.
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Wawira Njiru

African Changemaker

Wawira Njiru

Wawira is a Kenyan social entrepreneur, nutritionist, and philanthropist working to address the inequality in food access and education for Kenyan children.

She is the Founder of Food For Education, an organization providing subsidized nutritious meals to primary school children to improve nutrition education outcomes.

Founded in 2012, Food for Education has served over 10,000,000 meals, leading to improved nutrition, school attendance, performance and higher high school transition rates.

The organization uses a technology-cantered system whereby meals are prepared in central kitchens (hub) and distributed through systematized logistics to schools.

Wawira’s ambition, simplicity of mission, and proof of impact have earned her several accolades, including the first-ever Global Citizen Prize for Youth Leadership presented by Cisco.

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Did you know that over 525 million people used the internet in Africa in 2019? If current growth trends continue, almost 75% of Africans are expected to come online by 2030.
Senegalese eMobility and energy startup Solarbox Africa announced the successful closure of a $1 million pre-seed funding round.
Lamine Tall is a Senegalese computer scientist and entrepreneur, serving as the Co-Founder and CEO of Cauri Money, a fintech company established in 2019.
Visa has announced the 19 African startups selected to participate in the third cohort of its Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator program.
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Nadayar Enegesi

African Changemaker

Nadayar Enegesi

Nadayar is a Nigerian tech entrepreneur revolutionizing home management in Africa.

He is the CEO and Co-Founder of Eden Life Inc., a tech-driven home management platform in Africa providing services such as laundry and cleaning.

A graduate of the University of Waterloo in Canada, Nadayar formerly co-founded Andela, a platform specializing in helping highly skilled, global technology talent communities connect with hundreds of leading companies.

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Did you know that over 525 million people used the internet in Africa in 2019? If current growth trends continue, almost 75% of Africans are expected to come online by 2030.
Senegalese eMobility and energy startup Solarbox Africa announced the successful closure of a $1 million pre-seed funding round.
Lamine Tall is a Senegalese computer scientist and entrepreneur, serving as the Co-Founder and CEO of Cauri Money, a fintech company established in 2019.
Visa has announced the 19 African startups selected to participate in the third cohort of its Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator program.
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Hilda Moraa

African Changemaker

Hilda Moraa

Hilda is an award-winning Kenyan innovator and author with a mission to empower African entrepreneurs.

She is the Founder and CEO of Pezesha, a digital lending infrastructure for Small & Medium Businesses (SMBs) and African institutions. At Pezesha, Hilda has helped build a holistic digital financial trust infrastructure providing affordable working capital to financially excluded SMEs.

Before founding Pezesha, she was the Founder & CEO of WezaTele, a value-add mobility service provider in the fintech and supply chain sector that was started in 2009 and acquired in 2015.
In 2018, Quartz Africa listed Hilda among the top 30 innovators in Africa.

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Did you know that over 525 million people used the internet in Africa in 2019? If current growth trends continue, almost 75% of Africans are expected to come online by 2030.
Senegalese eMobility and energy startup Solarbox Africa announced the successful closure of a $1 million pre-seed funding round.
Lamine Tall is a Senegalese computer scientist and entrepreneur, serving as the Co-Founder and CEO of Cauri Money, a fintech company established in 2019.
Visa has announced the 19 African startups selected to participate in the third cohort of its Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator program.