Jason Njoku of Iroko TVWritten by Forbes writer - Mfonobong Nsehe There's no money like young money. While African millionaires and billionaires like Onsi Sawiris, Raymond Ackerman, and Aliko Dangote may have more money than most of us can ever dream of, there's one thing they can never buy: Youth. Even money has its limits.But there are a handful of young Africans in their 20s and 30s who have built businesses and amassed enviable million-dollar fortunes. Call them million-dollar babies. See the top ten after the cut...Jason Njoku,NigerianAge: 31Founder & CEOIroko TVThe maverick Nigerian Internet entrepreneur is founder of Iroko TV, the world's largest digital distributor of African movies. Iroko TV has been dubbed the 'Netflix of Africa'. Earlier this year, Iroko TV raised $8 million in venture capital from Tiger Global Management, a New York-based private equity and hedge fund run by billionaireChase Coleman. IrokoTV enjoys lucrative content distribution deals with Dailymotion, iTunes, Amazon and Vimeo. Njoku is unwilling to divulge figures, but analysts believe IrokoTV could be worth as much as $30 million. Njoku is the company's largest individual shareholder. Mark Shuttleworth,South AfricanAge: 38Founder,Knife CapitalWhen Shuttleworth was 22, he founded Thawte, a digital certificate and internet security company which he sold toVeriSignfor $575 million in 1999, when he was 26. Shuttleworth used a fraction of his proceeds to startHBD Capital(now called Knife Capital), a Cape Town-based emerging markets investment fund. HBD has made a series of successful exits includingFundamo, a mobile financial services company which was acquired byVisafor $110 million in 2011; andcsense,which was acquired by GE Intelligent Platforms the same year. Shuttleworth also founded and fundsUbuntu, a computer operating system which he distributes as free open source software. Shuttleworth has a net worth north of $500 million.Ashish Thakkar,UgandanAge: 29 Co-Founder and CEO,Mara GroupThakkar, 29 is a co-founder and CEO of Mara Group ' a Ugandan conglomerate with tentacles in financial services, hotels, renewable energy, technology and manufacturing. Annual revenues are approximately $100 million and the group has an active presence in 16 countries on four continents. Devoted philanthropist: Through hisMara Foundation, Thakkar provides mentorship and seed funding to young East African entrepreneurs. Also fundsNext Generation Schools, an independent charity focused on improving education quality in disadvantaged secondary schools in Uganda. The Mara Grouprecently signed a $300 million deal with the Tanzanian governmentto develop a 3.5 million square foot state of the art mini-city.Ladi Delano,NigerianAge: 30Founder and CEO,Bakrie Delano AfricaThe jet-setting Nigerian serial entrepreneur made his first millions as a liquor entrepreneur while living in China. In 2004, at age 22, he founded Solidarnosc Asia, a Chinese alcoholic beverage company that madeSolid XS, a premium brand of vodka. Solid XS went on to achieve over 50% market share in China and was distributed across over 30 cities in China, and pulled in $20 million in annual revenue. Delano subsequently sold the company to a rival liquor company for over $15 million and ploughed his funds into his next venture-The Delano Reid Group, a real estate investment holding company focused on mainland China. Today, Delano is the co-founderand Chief Executive Officer ofBakrie Delano Africa(BDA) ' a $1 billion joint venture with the $15 billion (market cap)Bakrie Groupof Indonesia. Bakrie Delano Africa serves as the investment partner of the Bakrie Group in Nigeria. The Indonesian conglomerate has provided over $900 million worth of funds to invest in Nigeria and Bakrie Delano Africa is responsible for identifying investment opportunities in mining, agriculture and oil & gas and executing them.Justin Stanford,South AfricanAge: 28Founder & CEO,4Di GroupSouth African-born Stanford is a software entrepreneur and venture capitalist. After dropping out off high school, Stanford set out to launch an internet security company which flopped. When he came acrossESET, a Slovakian anti-virus software package, he negotiated with its manufacturers and cornered the exclusive, lucrative Southern African distribution for the product. Today, Stanford'sESET Southern Africaoperates the ESET brand in the region and sells ESET's range of internet security products in about 20 sub-Saharan countries, leveraging on an extremely successful internet business platform and digital distribution model for online software sales and service. Today, Stanford's ESET brand records over $10 million in annual turnover and controls 5% of the anti-virus market in Southern Africa. Stanford is also the founding partner of 4Di Capital, a Cape Town-based venture capital fund. Stanford is also a co-founder of theSilicon Cape Initiative, a non-profit movement that aims to turn the Cape into Africa's own Silicon Valley.Magatte Wade,SenegaleseAge: 36Founder,Adina World BeatBeverages &TiossanIn 2004 Magatte Wade founded Adina World Beat Beverages, aSan Franciscobeverage company that manufactures coffee, tea and fruit juices using traditional beverage recipes across Africa and organic ingredients sourced from smallholder farmers in Africa and Asia. Within five years of launching, Adina raised over $30 million in venture capital from institutional investors and the products began being sold by Whole Foods and United Natural Foods. Magatte stepped down from her position as CEO to grow her second company,Tiossan, a manufacturer of luxury skin care products based on indigenous Senegalese recipes.Mike Macharia,KenyanAge: 36Founder & CEO,Seven Seas TechnologiesWhen he was 25, Macharia, a Kenyan national, foundedSeven Seas Technology, now easily East Africa's most reputable IT services firm. The $50 million (annual sales) company is a leading provider of integrated business and technology solutions across Africa in the telecom, financial,Real Estate, service industry and government. Seven Seas is gearing up to get listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange next year.Vinny Lingham,South AfricanAge: 33Founder, Yola IncLingham, a South African national, is the founder ofYola Inc, a San Francisco-based Web 2.0 outfit that provides free website building, publishing and hosting services to over 3 million active users across the globe. Yola has attracted over $30 million in venture capital financing from institutional investors such asColumbusVenture Capital, a subsidiary of South African billionaire Johann Rupert's Richemont Group. Prior to Yola, Lingham foundedClick2Customers, a hugely successful search engine marketing company with offices in London, Cape Town, and Los Angeles. Click2Customersrakes in about $100 million in annual revenues. Lingham is a co-founder ofthe Silicon Cape Initiativealong with fellow South African entrepreneur Justin Stanford.Kamal Budhabatti,KenyanAge: 36CEO,Craft SiliconKamal is the founder and CEO of Craft Silicon, a $50 million (market value) Kenyan software company which provides software in core banking, microfinance, mobile, switch solutions and electronic payments for over 200 institutional clients in 40 countries spread across four continents.Yolanda Cuba,South AfricanAge: 35Executive Director, South African BreweriesWhen Yolanda Cuba was 29 she was appointed CEO of Mvelaphanda Holdings, a Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed investment holding company. She was awarded stock options worthover $10 millionwhich she exercised before stepping down as CEO last year. She subsequently took up a job as an Executive Director at South African Breweries. Cuba still serves on the boards of South African blue chips such as Steinhoff International Holdings and Absa Group.Source
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