Five Nigerians Featured on Fortune Publication’s 2020 40 under 40 List
Five Nigerians Abasi Ene-Obong of 54gene, Olugbenga Agboola of Flutterwave, Obi Ozor of Kobo360, Helen Adeosun of CareAcademy and Margaret Anadu head of Goldman’s urban investment group have been featured on Fortune Publication’s 2020 40 under 40 List. The publication’s list recognises 40 individuals who are below the age of 40 who are considered to be influential leaders in their respective fields.
Fortune is a global media organization dedicated to helping its readers, viewers and attendees succeed big in business through unrivaled access and best-in-class storytelling. Being a global leader in business journalism, Fortune is best known for major franchises including the 40 under 40 list, Fortune 500, Fortune Global 500, Most Powerful Women in Business, 100 Fastest-Growing Companies etc.
This year the individual’s featured on 2020 40 under 40 list have taken their respective companies to new heights amidst the coronavirus pandemic crisis.
Fortune chose 200 individuals this for this years’ 40 under 40 list across five categories: finance, government and policy, healthcare, media and entertainment and technology.
Read Also: Nollywood Superstar, Ini Edo Appointed as NDI’s Women Empowerment Ambassador
The five Nigerians featured in this years’ 40 under 40 list were selected in the following categories:
Health category
Abasi Ene-Obong of 54gene was recognised for his work with his biotech startup 54gene. 54gene founded in 2019 is a startup utilizing human genetic data derived from diverse African populations to improve medical products on the continent. The startup was recognised by Fast Company recently as one of the most innovative companies in Africa. The company recently raised $15 million through a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation backed venture fund. Visit 54gene here.
Finance category
Olugbenga Agboola was recognized for Flutterwave, a fintech startup where he is the ceo. Flutterwave makes it easy for Africans to make and accept payments anywhere in the world. Agboola led the firm through a Series B funding round which injected $35 million into the company in 2020 which will help Flutterwave provide more payment products. Visit flutter wave here .
Technology category
Obi Ozor was recognized for his startup Kobo360 which he and Ife Oyedele co-founded . Kobo360 is a tech-enabled logistics startup that aggregates end-to-end haulage operations. Kobo360 matches truck drivers with consignments. Currently, Kobo360 has expanded from Nigeria into Kenya, Ghana, Togo and Uganda and has over 23,000 drivers on its platform. Visit Kobo360 here
Healthcare category
Helen Adeosun was recognized for her digital training platform CareAcademy which she co-founded with Dr. Madhuri Reddy. CareAcademy is a home care and home health workforce empowerment platform, upskilling and preparing workers for the growing elder care market. More than 110,000 caregivers have completed 400,000 CareAcademy classes and the company is aiming to reskill more than 1 million new home-care workers by 2023. Visit CareAcademy here.
Finance category
Margaret Anadu was recognized for her role as head of Goldman’s urban investment group. She became Goldman Sachs’s youngest female Black partner in history at age 37 in 2018. Margaret has successfully spearheaded much of Goldman Sachs’s efforts to invest in underserved areas and particularly communities of color overseeing a $4 billion portfolio dedicated to investments that address racial inequities, unemployment, a lack of affordable housing, and other problems with more than $1 billion invested so far this year.