The Innovators
They are African, working across a wide range of highly specialised fields — industry, energy, agriculture, healthcare, technology, AI, defence and more. Some are young; others are grandparents. Among them are business leaders and trade unionists, intellectuals and brilliant young minds. What they all have in common is a determination to change the rules of the game and build genuine sovereignty. Here are fifteen profiles, each showing in its own way a path forward.
Globally acclaimed, he is reinventing contemporary architecture through techniques rooted in traditional building practices, particularly those adapted to a changing climate.
Africa’s richest man is thinking big: refineries, fuel, fertiliser… Mega-investments that are reshaping the market.
This Franco-Togolese entrepreneur, one of the pioneers of recycling and the circular economy in sub-Saharan Africa, is determined to turn environmental constraints into genuine drivers of development.
The head of Nigerian conglomerate BUA Group has made industrialisation both a goal and a strategy.
This researcher has transformed her battle with illness into an opportunity to explore AI in healthcare, for the benefit of African women.
This entrepreneur dreams of a Great Carbon Valley, where CO₂ can be captured and stored in the Rift Valley using renewable energy.
An engineer and manager, he heads Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), which has established itself as one of the major hubs of Africa’s scientific sovereignty.
Founder of Aurora Health Systems, this doctor has developed an AI-powered solution for rapid cardiac diagnosis, which she plans to deploy across the continent.
A pioneer of made-in-Africa drones in 2015, this bold entrepreneur believes Africa must become a producer of its own defence technologies.