With all the news of instability coming out of the continent, and the negative coverage of Africa by the West, it is easy to believe that the continent does not have anything of value to offer the world.
With all the news of instability coming out of the continent, and the negative coverage of Africa by the West, it is easy to believe that the continent does not have anything of value to offer the world.
This, of course, is far from the truth. One of the things it has to offer are its people. There are countless Africans who are alive today making waves within the continent and outside it. Here are a few of them and what they have been able to achieve.
(1) Aliko Dangote, GCON (born 10 April 1957)
Aliko Dangote is a Nigerian business magnate. He is the richest man in Africa and the richest black man in the world. He has his fingers in many pies, and his business dealings have gone a long way to solving some of the major problems that Africa has.
His company, the Dangote group was founded in 1981 and is the largest conglomerate in Nigeria and one of the largest in Africa. It produces cement, sugar, salt, flour, steel, packaging and even oil and gas products. As it stands now, Dangote is in the process of setting up a $10.5bn oil refinery in Nigeria which will be the country’s first and only fully functional refinery.
This will save Nigeria a lot of money, as when the refinery is up and running, the country will no longer need to send raw crude out of Nigeria only to have it sold back to it at exorbitant prices. Aliko Dangote has always pioneered, and he continues to do so until today.
(2) Elon Reeve Musk, FRS (born June 28, 1971)
The closest thing that Africa has to a mad genius is Elon Musk. He is a South African industrial designer and engineer and the founder, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Technology Officer and Chief Designer of SpaceX, a company that is leading in the field of space travel.
His futuristic ideas have always been seen as innovative, and sometimes even too innovative, but somehow, he has always managed to see them come to fruition, often leading to changing major global industries. He is passionate about reducing global warming, this is the reason his companies are geared towards renewable energy; to this end he produces solar panels, and his company Tesla manufactures electric cars. One of the more ambitious plans that he is working on is his desire to establish a colony on the planet Mars. Like always, this seems like a pipe dream, but given what he has been able to accomplish so far, it very well might happen.
(3) CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHE (Born 15 September 1977)
Africa has produced many prolific writers, and one contemporary writer that the continent can be proud of is Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche. She is a Nigerian writer whose work includes novels and short stories. There is such an international demand for her work that her books have been translated into different languages. Her work has appeared in publications like the New Yorker, Financial Times and Zoetrope.
Her work is so well written and touches on the human condition, so much so that they attracted Hollywood movie producers who turned them into feature films. She has won so many literary awards, that they are simply too many to count.
These days, she has risen to prominence with her advocacy for causes she is passionate about, things like, sexism, racism and Africanism. She especially champions women’s and girl’s rights and is proud to call herself a feminist, in a world when many people who are, are afraid to admit it publicly.
(4) Abiy Ahmed (Born 15 August 1976)
There are a few people who become icons relatively quickly, but Abiy Ahmed is one African who has managed to do this. He is the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, and is one of the youngest people to lead a country. In his short tenure, he has managed to repair Ethiopia’s relationship with Eritrea, calmed ethnic tensions, released 60,000 political prisoners and signed several multi million-dollar infrastructure deals with China, which has started liberalizing Ethiopia’s economy.
He also set up a trust fund and managed to convince Ethiopians in the diaspora to contribute $2.4 million to it. Ahmed also made a deliberate choice to fill his cabinet with women. He even diffused military tensions by challenging soldiers to push-ups. He has only been in office for a little over two years and he has done so much for his country. He is a leader with a vision who isn’t afraid to go after what he wants.
(5) Genevieve Nnaji (Born 3 May 1979)
Genevieve Nnaji is one of the gems that Africa can boast of. She is a highly talented actress and is one of the best artistes that has come out of Africa. She is a Nigerian actress who has spent her life honing her craft and has earned numerous accolades to show for it. She has gained recognition for her performances all across the world. She made her directorial debut in 2018 with the film Lionheart in which she also starred. This picture was the Streaming Giant, Netflix’s first original feature Nigerian movie. Her acting prowess is what led Oprah to call her, “The Julia Roberts of Africa”.
It’s is said that people are the most valuable resource on the planet, and from the individuals mentioned above, it is plain to see that Africa has an abundance of rich human resources. The people from the continent have ingenuity in spades and have used and continue to use these talents to amaze the world and create solutions to problems that have plagued the globe for long. Africans create waves wherever they go, they are innovative, they are hardworking and above all, they are determined to succeed. This is why Africans tend to dominate wherever they find themselves around the world. And as the continent continues develop, it will be interesting to see what future African generations will be able to accomplish.
