TRAILBLAZERS UNDER 30 IN THE HOT SEAT CREATING A NEW ARCHITECTURE FOR CHANGE IN AFRICA

NO ONE HEARS MORE 'NO'S' OR HAS MORE DOORS SLAMMED IN THEIR FACE THAN A YOUNG PERSON CHASING A DREAM AND TRYING TO SOLVE A FORMIDABLE PROBLEM. BUT ASK ANY OF THESE YOUNG AFRICANS, AND THEY WILL TELL YOU THAT EVERY SETBACK HAS BUILT THEIR RESILIENCE. IF NO ONE OFFERS THEM OPPORTUNITIES, THEY WILL CREATE THEM, AND ACROSS SECTORS, WITH AN UNSHAKEABLE PASSION FOR NATION-BUILDING AND DEVELOPMENT. HERE ARE THE FINALISTS OF FORBES AFRICA'S 11TH EDITION OF THE ANNUAL 30 UNDER 30 LIST.

- Chanel Retief

More than a year ago at the Africa CEO Forum in Rwanda’s capital Kigali, the nation’s president, Paul Kagame, said: “The more united Africa is, the more productive our engagement with partners will become. Integration, for Africa’s business community, is an opportunity to grow our markets and become more competitive. Africa does not have to ask for a seat at the table.”

Propelled by ambition and motivated by success, FORBES AFRICA’s 30 Under 30 Class of 2025 wholeheartedly epitomize this sentiment, but they don’t just want to ask for a seat, they want to build it and occupy those prized positions. And not alone—but as a collective.

They unanimously follow the Millennials-Generation Z dictum of “standing on business”, which is doing exactly what they have set out to do and making it, come what may.

They believe that leading from the front as role models is the only way they can do away with some of Africa’s biggest problems, one of them being rising unemployment. For a continent with the world’s youngest population, they know this is not a heartening scenario, and are hence impatient to change the narrative about themselves.

Let’s take Africa’s biggest economy. As of May 2025, the number of jobless individuals in South Africa has risen to a staggering 8.2 million. In a country with a population of 60 million, according to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS), young people (aged between 15-34) remain the most at risk; the number of unemployed in this demographic rose to 4.8 million; 151,000 more than the previous quarter.

The numbers from the other regions of the continent are not encouraging either. The Federation of Kenya Employers states that approximately 35% of young people in Kenya are unemployed. According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), the youth unemployment rate for individuals aged 15-24 stood at 4.5% in 2023, a slight decrease from 4.6% in 2022.