Forty founders aged 15 to 22 have been named 2026 fellows of the Anzisha Prize, Africa’s top fellowship for young entrepreneurs.
They will participate in a two-year venture-building program with over $140,000 in coaching, stipends and prize money, representing 15 countries across the continent.
Now in its 15th year, the Anzisha Fellowship has supported nearly 300 very young entrepreneurs since 2011. It remains Africa’s only fellowship dedicated exclusively to founders under 22.
The Fellowship hands out over $140,000 every year in coaching, networking, learning modules, cash stipends and grand prize money to entrepreneurs from all over the continent. At the end of the two-year programme, fellows compete for $40,000 in grand prizes across four categories: Job Creation, Revenue Growth, Storytelling and Systems of Delivery.
The 2026 cohort spans agriculture, agritech, circular economy, renewable energy, edtech, healthtech, digital infrastructure, fashion, food processing, and creative industries, a precise map of where Africa’s youngest minds are building the solutions the continent most urgently needs.
The Complete 2026 Cohort
Laba Faye — Pont Vert (Senegal): Reshaping agricultural markets by connecting farmers to fair prices and reliable buyers, eliminating exploitative middlemen.
Espérance Kavaketi — Es’Concept (DRC): A 19-year-old in Goma turning locally sourced leather and fabric into products and economic opportunity for young women.
Byamugisha Nickson — TAMU Flavoured Honey (Uganda): A health-focused honey enterprise promoting better nutrition while building community livelihoods.
Chinonso Osueke — Dekona Homes and Apartments (Nigeria): Solving the affordable housing crisis for students and young professionals in Rivers and Bayelsa States.
Eddy Kayisire — V-ZONE CLOUD (DRC): Building homegrown digital infrastructure and cybersecurity solutions designed specifically for African markets.
Bio Euphrahim Yai — VertIvoire Groupe (Côte d’Ivoire): Combining agricultural enterprise with environmental responsibility in Ivorian farming communities.
Covenant Awoyemi — Eco-Recycle Livestock Haven (Nigeria): A community health nurse building a circular economy model at the intersection of agriculture, waste, and renewable energy.
Anele Marvellous Khumalo — Crisp & Co. Creatives (Zimbabwe): A Bulawayo branding and design agency built on the conviction that good branding should not be a luxury.
Ahmed Abdelnasser Ahmed — Agreology (Egypt): An agri-tech startup applying smart, affordable technology to close the data and efficiency gap in African farming.
Branice Kazira — Signvrse (Kenya): Co-Founder and CTO of an AI-powered assistive technology company building accessibility tools for Deaf communities across Africa.
Lisa Kampata — Climate Tech Lab (Malawi): A 20-year-old who lost her home to Cyclone Freddy and responded by building youth-led climate resilience solutions.
Japhet Mathias Faida — HumanDesire (Tanzania): A platform building digital infrastructure and market access for Africa’s talented but underserved creative designers.
Tukur Sahabo Modibbo — PALUDITEPRO (Nigeria): An edtech venture closing the digital literacy gap that causes capable students to fail computer-based examinations.
Hervé Himbaza — Gre-Pa Mushrooms / Green Planet Alliance (Rwanda): Addressing malnutrition and food insecurity through sustainable local mushroom production.
Emilie Sebagenzi Rukundo — Be That Girl Nails (DRC): A nail care brand built for active, ambitious women without time for conventional self-care routines.
Gideon Noah — S.G. Embroidery Ltd (Kenya): A second-generation entrepreneur who inherited a family textile business and is professionalising and scaling it.
Norah Kimathi — Zerobionic (Kenya): Building AI-powered robotics to make STEM education genuinely inclusive for Deaf and hard-of-hearing learners.
Olayèmi Dorcas Assogba — CAJU VALOR (Benin): Turning Benin’s discarded cashew apples into nutritional and commercial products, eliminating seasonal agricultural waste.
Patrick Musisi Ndungutse — Maripat Food Solutions (Uganda): Building food value chain solutions guided by Ubuntu philosophy to reduce fruit waste and stabilise farmer incomes.
Robson Muianga — Mowane SA (Mozambique): Building affordable renewable energy solutions for communities living without electricity.
Salimata Koné — Textile & Retail Enterprise (Côte d’Ivoire): A venture simultaneously creating jobs, skills training, and financial independence for young women.
Samaa Sahab — EcoCraft Creations (Kenya): Turning plastic waste into desirable fashion products — proving circular economy manufacturing can be profitable and purposeful.
Sarah Manyozo — Manyozo Enterprise (Malawi): A 19-year-old founder turning textile waste into stylish, affordable clothing for communities where decent clothing remains unaffordable.
Ismaël Bagué Kalilou — Niger FPV Drone (Senegal): Building locally designed drone and robotics solutions tailored to Niger’s specific environmental and economic realities.
Grace Mshelia — Hyels’ Confections (Nigeria): A confectionery founder who turned COVID-19 lockdown baking experiments into a disciplined, growing food business.
Kakwezi Sharifah — Rein Fresh Roots (Uganda): Co-Founder turning post-harvest fruit losses (mangoes, pineapples, oranges) into valuable food products in Kayunga District.
Segnon Ginette Mirabelle Tonoukouin — 4TECH SARL (Benin): Co-Founder building more affordable, inclusive internet access and cybersecurity solutions for students in Benin.
Silvano Thedomiri Mushi — Chuo Market (Tanzania): A public relations officer and content creator building a student-focused digital marketplace platform.
Léonie Mbugheki — BIYAP (DRC): A 20-year-old founder in a conflict-affected region turning discarded plastic into fashion accessories, handbags, and jewellery.
Yamin Nigusu — Chaka Plants Nursery (Ethiopia): Left university to build a green nursery enterprise full-time, creating tangible environmental and economic impact.
Valéry Bimpe — WoodTech Africa (DRC): A designer and aspiring architect redefining custom carpentry and interior design in the DRC.
Shaluwa Malole — Nimiro Innovations (Uganda): Building affordable, eco-friendly crop pest solutions that protect smallholder farmers without damaging soil or health.
Tracy Achieng — KilimoChills Solution (Kenya): A mechanical engineering student designing cold chain technology to protect small-scale traders — many of them women — in informal markets.
Mutuzo Shema Gabin — Kilimo Asilia Africa Ltd (Rwanda): Building a circular economy model that turns household food waste into soil fertility solutions for farmers.
Siphokazi Kheswa — Elegant Designs / Prudence Legacy Designs Pty Ltd (South Africa): A design and branding enterprise started in Grade 11 in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal.
Naomi Tsiga — Sweetstix Sugarcane Treats (Zimbabwe): A food brand building infused sugarcane and baobab-based products, raised by a single mother of seven.
Simone Wellet — Crousti Products (Benin): An agronomy student turning academic knowledge of local ingredients into a food processing solution tackling post-harvest loss.
Sebagala Richard — Ayila Insect Repellents Co. Limited (Uganda): Lost a family member to a preventable insect-borne disease and turned grief into a public health enterprise.
Malehu Mohale — EBTA Online Academy (South Africa): A matric achiever with seven distinctions who channelled her own educational journey into an online academy serving low-income learners.
Valdemiro Arlindo Tchuma — Agrifood Solutions (Mozambique): Building the local food processing infrastructure that prevents post-harvest crop waste and stabilises farmer incomes.
Why This Cohort Matters
Forty founders. Fifteen countries. Every major region of the continent represented. Every solution built to address a specific, felt problem, not an imported template.
Africa’s median age is 19.7 years. The continent must create 20 million new jobs per year through 2030.
The institutions, development banks and governments tasked with delivering that employment are falling short. These 40 founders, the youngest of whom is 19, are not waiting for those institutions to catch up. They are building businesses with real customers, real revenue and real community impact right now.
That is the Anzisha thesis in its simplest form. After 15 years and nearly 300 fellows, the evidence that it works is compounding. The 2026 cohort is the latest and most geographically diverse proof point yet.
