Young African entrepreneurs are rising to the challenge, launching innovative business ideas, and collaborating to support communities and create safe spaces to reduce the number of infected cases across the continent.

Here are 6 African young entrepreneurs tackling the pandemic:

Olivia Onyemaobi, Pad up – Nigeria

Since the pandemic, Olivia Onyemaobi’s company, Pad Up has produced and distributed over 100,000 breathable sterile face masks to medical personnel in Nigeria.

Her company, Pad-Up Creations started as a social enterprise, manufacturing washable and reusable sanitary pads as sustainable solution for girls and women in Africa. Her company made history in May 2020 when it became the first and only reusable sanitary pads certified by NAFDAC in Nigeria.

Since inception, her business has created 103 permanent jobs and empowered over 16,000 women who earn wages through the distribution of sanitary pads.

Mohammed Akamara, Light Salone Innovation – Sierra Leone

To combat the spread of the coronavirus through contact, Mohammed Akamara, an entrepreneur from Sierra Leone and beneficiary of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, launched Lili Tap to help Africans in Sierra-Leone with a safer and unique handwashing system for small communities.

Launched by his business, Light Salone Innovation, Lili Tap involves opening and closing the tap with a foot working down a lever system.

The solution has been endorsed by the government of Sierra-Leone and is currently being rolled out in communities, homes, offices, business places, markets, and schools.

Nkem Okocha, Mama Moni – Nigeria

Nigerian-based entrepreneur and TEF alumnus, Nkem Okocha repurposed her business to support low income women in her community who are in dire need of help and support to feed their families.

Her business, Mama Moni, which offers low-income earning women access to micro-loans and opportunities for capacity building, stepped in to support the fight against COVID-19 by donating proceeds of the sales of its liquid soap (Levanter Handwashing Soap) to its community of women.

Marie-Christina Kolo, Alt.soap – Madagascar

In Madagascar, TEF alumnus, Marie-Christina Kolo took a proactive step to the pandemic, launching “Alt.soap”,  an eco-friendly soap gel that does not require rinsing with water.

Her idea was developed to help the poorest in Madagascar, who do not have the access to water and soap, and to help people stay safe. To produce Alt.soap, Marie and her team collect and treat used cooking oil from canteens and restaurants with non-chemical products and then pass it into a centrifuge, where it is mixed with soda.

Dr. Adereni Abiodun, HelpMum – Nigeria

HelpMum, a social enterprise with the mission to reduce maternal and infant mortality in Nigeria embarked on a response plan to the pandemic.

HelpMum’s Founder and TEF Alumnus, Dr. Adereni Abiodun  began the distribution of 10,000 face masks to nurses and traditional birth attendants in primary health centres and rural areas, as well as pregnant women and nursing mothers in underserved communities.

The HelpMum face mask was also included in the company’s clean birth kits to protect nurses, traditional birth attendants and community health workers and ensure safe and hygienic delivery in rural and underserved areas during the pandemic.

Laud Basing, Incas Diagnostics – Ghana

Founder of Incas Diagnostics and TEF entrepreneur, Laud Basing, launched a rapid Covid-19 test kit.

The test kit incorporates an app that handles a symptom assessment checker, result update and tracking of the patient’s location which is pushed to public health authorities. The solution has won awards.

His company is a medical diagnostic development and manufacturing social enterprise in Ghana, using low-cost, easy-to-use, point-of-care diagnostic test kits designed specifically for Africa.

About The Tony Elumelu Foundation

The Tony Elumelu Foundation is the leading philanthropy empowering a new generation of African entrepreneurs, driving poverty eradication, catalysing job creation across all 54 African countries, and ensuring inclusive economic empowerment. Since the launch of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme in 2015, the Foundation has trained over 1.5 million young Africans on its digital hub, TEFConnect, and disbursed nearly USD$100 million in direct funding to 18,000 African women and men, who have collectively created over 400,000 direct and indirect jobs. The Foundation’s mission is rooted in Africapitalism, which positions the private sector, and most importantly entrepreneurs, as the catalyst for the social and economic development of the African continent.

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To tackle this growing silent crisis, TEF Entrepreneur and Founder of Shine Space, Nora Chaynane founded Shine Space, Morroco’s foremost socio-educational initiative to bridge the knowledge gap and guide students to finding the right career path.

Shine space offers opportunities to students to prepare early and acquire technical and interpersonal skills, beyond what the schools provide, to meet the demands of today’s world of work.

Before the pandemic, Shine Space delivered over 10 workshops to offer these unique opportunities to students through offline trainings and online interactions.

In response to the Covid-19 panedmic, Nora and her team pivoted their operational strategy online. In addition to that, she collaborated with the small health centres and the Health Ministry to raise awareness and fight the negative social impact of Covid-19.

To further drive the vision of her company, Nora is set to launch Glisa bla VISA (A discussion without VISA) – Morocco’s first interactive platform aimed to improve the professional and conversational skills in foreign languages using focused groups (talk rooms), while discussing trending news.

Since the lockdown, Shine Space has hosted 20 workshops, supported 100 students with the in-person mentorship, and benefited over 2,500 participants.

Shine Space previously won the Social Impact Prize in the National Entrepreneurship Competition GPE in Kenitra and the American Student Leaders program.

Read more alumni stories here

Updated: The Tony Elumelu Foundation Launches Its 2024 TV Commercial

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While the world awaits the COVID-19 vaccine, Marie-Christina Kolo from Madagascar has developed a COVID-19 solution that is proactively saving lives in her community. She was recently approached for collaboration by the Ministry of Sanitation and Water in Madagascar.

The project aims to overcome the lack of drinking water faced by the people of Madagascar and help the poorest who do not have the access to water, soap, and hydro-alcoholic solutions (sanitisers).

“With the coronavirus, washing your hands with soap has become a necessity, but it is not accessible to everyone. We have therefore imagined a soap based on used edible oil, the main source of water pollution in the Malagasy capital Antananarivo,” Marie-Christina Kolo said.

To produce Alt.soap, Marie and her team collect and treat used cooking oil from canteens and restaurants with non-chemical products and then pass it into a centrifuge, where it is mixed with soda.

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Since the pandemic began, the company, based in Uganda, lived its mission by manufacturing reusable, washable and biodegradable anti-viral face masks as an alternative to single-use face masks which are made of plastic.

The organisation has also launched a campaign to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. 50% of the proceeds of its reusable masks is used to manufacture more antiviral facemasks which are freely distributed to local market vendors, health workers and other essential service providers in Uganda.

The company’s founder, Juliet Namujju, a TEF-GIZ sponsored entrepreneur, was featured earlier this year in January on CNN African voices “Changemakers”. The company believes in employing people with disabilities to further empower its community.

To support, you can shop and purchase your product here.

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With the rising cases on the Covid19 crisis, maternal care becomes critical at this time.

HelpMum, a social enterprise with the mission to reduce maternal and infant mortality in Nigeria has embarked on a response plan to the pandemic.

Dr. Adereni Abiodun is the Founder and CEO at HelpMum and a TEF Alumnus 2017.

HelpMum has begun the distribution of 10,000 face masks to nurses and traditional birth attendants in primary health centres and rural areas, as well as pregnant women and nursing mothers in underserved communities. The HelpMum face mask will also be included in the HelpMum clean birth kits to protect nurses, traditional birth attendants and community health workers to ensure safe and hygienic delivery in rural and underserved areas during the pandemic.

“We are also providing health tips to pregnant women, nursing mothers and Traditional birth attendant in remote areas on WHO-recommended precautions on how they can stay safe during this pandemic season,” Dr Abiodun adds.

“At HelpMum, we will not relent,” she continues, “we will keep trying our best in helping to stop the spread of this virus. Please stay safe and follow all necessary precautions.”

You can visit the Helpmum via their website at www.helpmum.org or on Instagram and Twitter @HelpMum_ng.

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While the world faces a huge health challenge, earning a living has become a challenge for low income earners across Africa. Tony Elumelu entrepreneur, Nkem Okocha, repurposed her business to support low income women in her community who are in dire need of help and support to feed their families.

Her business, Mama Moni, which offers micro-loans and creates opportunities for capacity building to low-income earning women, stepped in to support the fight against COVID-19 by donating proceeds of the sales of its liquid soap (Levanter Handwashing Soap) to these women.

She also partnered with individuals and organisations to direct help where it is in dire need. With this initiative, Nkem Okocha has donated food, relief funds, high quality sanitizers and sensitised over 200 women in Ijegun, Ikotun, Ojo areas of Lagos state, Nigeria.

She is currently on the lookout for more partners with like-minded individuals, groups, or organisations to support more women through the ordeal.

If you’re interested in partnering on this great initiative by this Tony Elumelu entrepreneur, click HERE to send her a message.

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In Nigeria, the virus has begun to spread at a geometric rate, and with it, an infodemic signalled by a lack of adequate information, fake news and uneven distribution of news.

Amidst these, “Know COVID-19 Nigeria” was established to address the pressing needs that could help reduce this pandemic.

“Know COVID-19 Nigeria” initiative was created by TEF Entrepreneur, Olasupo Abideen and a group of other young Nigerians with the goal of debunking fake news, provide safety, health and precautionary tips that can help Nigerians stay informed and protected.

Their major goal is to ensure the provision of adequate, relevant, reliable and relatable information, debunk fake news and ensure provide safety, health and precautionary tips that could help people stay safe, informed and protected. In achieving this, the group is engaging young professionals in various fields like media, medicine, graphics designing, web development, public relations, research and monitoring and evaluation, etcetera, who are volunteering their time and expertise, thereby, relieving them of boredom from staying at home as a result of the lock-down in the country.

“Within one week of our existence, by leveraging on major social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, we have been able to directly reach and engage over 2million Nigerians,” Abideen says.

“Know COVID-19 Nigeria” has distilled and interpreted data to curate different stories, map victims to prevent spread and sensitize people on coping strategies during the period of social distancing. They are also currently crowdfunding and seeking support from individuals and institutions to expand their services beyond where it currently is.

To reach more people, assist its volunteers with internet and provide relief support for the most vulnerable people, Know COVID is crowdfunding and seeking support from individuals and institutions via their GoFundme page. You can also make donations via their Nigerian Paystack page.

Visit their website https://knowcovid19.ng/ for more.

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Hamadou Daouda, a Niger-based entrepreneur and beneficiary of the Tony Elumelu Foundation has discovered a solution to connect his community with relevant information.

He launched a free service, by his company, NOVATECH in March, which allows the entire population in Niger to call and get advice on how to prevent COVID-19 in the 5 national languages.

The platform has received over 4,000 telephone calls from all over Niger and has been validated by the Ministry of Health in Niger.

NOVATECH is currently seeking opportunities to partner to scale its reach and further drive awareness on curbing the coronavirus.

Visit their website https://novatech.ne/ for more.

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This entrepreneur, a Tony Elumelu Foundation Alumnus, Mohammed Akamara, from Sierra Leone is solving this major problem.

Using locally available and recyclable materials, and through his business, Light Salone Innovation, he has built the Lili Tap to help Africans in Sierra-Leone with a safer and unique handwashing system for small communities.

His concept design which involves opening and closing the tap with a foot working down a lever system, has been endorsed by the government of Sierra-Leone and is currently being rolled out in communities, homes, offices, business places, markets, and schools.

Watch how it works.

The post Mohammed Akamara’s Innovation, Lili Tap, Helps Small Communities Avoid Contact When Washing Hands appeared first on The Tony Elumelu Foundation.

With KompleteCare’s team of over 15,000 doctors and technology, individuals can easily check for symptoms of COVID-19, undergo a health check and make better decisions about their well-being.

KompleteCare also provides real-time data to government agencies for contact tracing and data accuracy.

KompleteCare is looking for funding and partners to give more Nigerians access to quality healthcare straight from their devices.

About The Tony Elumelu Foundation

The Tony Elumelu Foundation is the leading philanthropy empowering a new generation of African entrepreneurs, driving poverty eradication, catalysing job creation across all 54 African countries, and ensuring inclusive economic empowerment. Since the launch of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme in 2015, the Foundation has trained over 1.5 million young Africans on its digital hub, TEFConnect, and disbursed nearly USD$100 million in direct funding to 18,000 African women and men, who have collectively created over 400,000 direct and indirect jobs. The Foundation’s mission is rooted in Africapitalism, which positions the private sector, and most importantly entrepreneurs, as the catalyst for the social and economic development of the African continent.

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