The African Genius Awards committee have released the official list of nominees for the 2024 African Genius Awards with a total of 47 incredible Africans shortlisted.
Popular African YouTuber Wode Maya, Nigerian prosthetics artist John Amanam, Dr Yakama Manty Jones, Dr Charles Awuzie Ibrahim Parizco Dainkeh, Siyamthanda Kolisi, and many more are amongst the nominees.
The African Genius Awards was launched in 2021 by Priority Performance Projects to celebrate and recognize outstanding achievements in science, technology, arts, and culture across the African continent.
The awards seek to promote and inspire excellence, innovation, and creativity among Africans, and to showcase the talent and ingenuity of the continent’s people.
Since its establishment, eight Africans have won the awards. Dr. Denis Mukwege, Professor Tshilidzi Marwala, Prof Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Professor Wole Soyinka, Albert Chinụalụmọgụ Achebe (in posthumous), Aliko Mohammed Dangote, Bantu Stephen Biko (in posthumous), and Professor Ali Mazrui – have all won the African Genius Awards.
The awards event is scheduled to take place in September this year in West Africa, making it the first time the African Genius Awards will be held outside South Africa. The host country is yet to be announced by the organizers but reliable sources have told me the announcement will happen very soon.
Plus94 Research, University of Pretoria, University of Johannesburg, Fourah Bay College, Gordon Institute of Business Science, 702, The African Dream, Charlotte Mannya-Maxeke Institutes – are partners of the awards.
The 47 shortlisted nominees for the 2024 awards are:
- Ibrahim Parizco Dainkeh (Sierra Leone): Ibrahim Parizco Dainkeh is a young Sierra Leonean self-taught innovator, inventor, and engineer. He built the world’s first peace robot using scrap materials.
- Berthold Kobby Winkler Ackon (Ghana): Berthold Kobby Winkler Ackon popularly known as Wode Maya is a Ghanaian YouTuber and vlogger. Through his YouTube content, Wode Maya has travelled to dozens of African countries showcasing the beauty and positive stories of the continent.
- Siyamthanda Kolisi (South Africa): Siyamthanda Kolisi is a South African rugby player and captain of the national rugby team. He captained the South African team at the 2019 Rugby World Cup tournament in Yokohama, Japan, defeating England 32–12 in the final to lift the Webb Ellis Cup. He is the first black South African to captain the national rugby team.
- John Amanam (Nigeria): John Amanam is a Nigerian prosthetic artist. He is the first African to produce hyper-realistic prostheses for black people.
- Hamis Kiggundu (Uganda): Hamis Kiggundu is a Ugandan businessman, investor, real estate and property developer, philanthropist, author and lawyer. He is the CEO of the Ham Group of Companies, and the author of Success and Failure Based on Reason and Reality and Reason as the World Masterpiece.
- Dr. Yakama Manty Jones (Sierra Leone): Dr. Yakama Manty Jones is a Sierra Leonean economist, researcher, entrepreneur, consultant, and philanthropist.
- Dr. Thakgalo Thibela (South Africa): Dr. Thakgalo Thibela, is a 25-year-old South African Medical Doctor. At age 21 she became the youngest female Medical Doctor in South Africa.
- Dr. Rufaro Nyakatawa (South Africa): Dr. Rufaro Nyakatawa is a Zimbabwean business consultant based in South Africa. She has more than 20 years of experience working in financial services, specifically wealth management in large financial services companies in South Africa and across Africa.
- Kin Kariisa (Uganda): Kin Kariisa is a Ugandan businessman, media proprietor and philanthropist. He is the CEO of Next Media Services, a multimedia company in Uganda mostly known for its flagship television network NBS Television.
- Dr Oluyinka Olutoye (Nigeria): Dr Oluyinka Olutoye is a world-renowned fetal and neonatal surgeon. He is a Nigerian based in the United States. He is known for performing some of the world’s most complicated surgeries.
- Dr Imtiaz Sooliman (South Africa): Dr Imtiaz Sooliman was a South African medical doctor turned philanthropist. In 1992, he founded the Gift of the Givers Foundation and has since then donated more than R160 million in a 13-year period to 22 countries, including South Africa.
- Claude Ake (Nigeria): Claude Ake was a Nigerian political scientist from Omoku, in Rivers State, Nigeria. Ake was considered “one of Africa’s foremost political philosophers.”
- Graça Machel (Mozambique): Graça Machel is a Mozambican politician, humanitarian and widow of the former President of Mozambique. She was a former freedom fighter in Mozambique’s FRELIMO movement and the country’s first Minister of Education.
- Joseph Lumbahe (South Africa): Joseph Lumbahe is a South African engineer and lead engineer in computer vision at Aizatron. He co-founded Bus54, a mobility technology platform with a digital infrastructure that aggregates intercity bus transportation data throughout all 54 African countries.
- Dr. Nokugcina Elsie Mhlophe (South Africa): Dr. Nokugcina Elsie Mhlophe is a well-known South African freedom fighter, activist, actor, storyteller, poet, playwright, director and author.
- Nolitha Fakude (South Africa): Nolitha Fakude is a South African author and businesswoman. She is the President of the Minerals Council South Africa and President of the International Woman’s Forum South Africa.
- Nomfundo Tshazibana (South Africa): Nomfundo Tshazibana is a South African economist and deputy governor of the South African Reserve Bank.
- Patrick Awuah Jr. (Ghana): Patrick Awuah Jr. is a Ghanaian educator and founder of Ashesi University. He has received global recognition for his work at Ashesi, including being named among the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders by Fortune Magazine.
- Patrick Epaphra Ngowi (Tanzania): Patrick Epaphra Ngowi is a Tanzanian entrepreneur who made his mark in renewable energy with Helvetic Solar Contractors, a company he founded when he was 22.
- Precious Moloi-Motsepe (South Africa): Precious Moloi-Motsepe is a South African physician and businesswoman. She is well known for her work in fashion and philanthropy.
- Professor Mashudu Tshifularo (South Africa): Professor Mashudu Tshifularo is a South African medical doctor and pioneer of the world’s first-ever middle ear transplant using 3D-printed bones.
- Professor Mark Nasila (South Africa): Professor Mark Nasila is a South African data and analytic officer. He is recognized for his contributions to data science and artificial intelligence in finance.
- Saray Khumalo (Zambia/South Africa): Saray Khumalo is a Zambian-born South African explorer and mountaineer. In May 2019 she became the first Black African woman to summit Mount Everest.
- Dr Sizwe Mabizela (South Africa): Dr. Sizwe Mabizela is a South African mathematician. In 2014, he became the Vice-Chancellor of Rhodes University.
- Stephen Wamukota (Kenya): Stephen Wamukota is a Kenyan child prodigy. In 2020, at the age of nine, he invented a hand-washing machine to help combat COVID-19. He received a Presidential Award for his innovation, the youngest of 68 people to receive the award from President Uhuru Kenyatta.
- Tembeka Nicholas Ngcukaitobi (South Africa): Tembeka Nicholas Ngcukaitobi is a prominent South African lawyer, human rights advocate and member of the South African Law Reform Commission.
- Theo Baloyi (South Africa): Theo Baloyi is a South African entrepreneur and founder of Bathu Shoes.
- Angélique Kidjo (Benin): Angélique Kidjo is a Beninese singer, songwriter, actress and activist. She is Africa’s most decorated Grammy winner.
- Aya Chebbi (Tunisia): Aya Chebbi is a Tunisian diplomat, a renowned youth activist and the first African Union Special Envoy on Youth.
- David ‘Qadasi’ Jenkins (South Africa): David ‘Qadasi’ Jenkins is a South African musician celebrated for his Zulu folk music.
- Dr. Charles Awuzie (Nigeria): Dr. Charles Awuzie is a Nigerian full-stack web developer, cybersecurity expert, and Tech StartUp CEO. He is the founder and CEO of Africa’s first Generative Artificial Intelligence Platform, gemsbokGPT and currently serves as the leader of a global team of technologists and scientists at Transhuman Coin LLC.
- Dr. Nahid Toubia (Sudan): Dr. Nahid Toubia is a Sudanese surgeon and a leading advocate for women’s health and rights.
- Dr. Amany Asfour (Egypt): Dr. Amany Asfour is an Egyptian medical doctor and entrepreneur who has contributed immensely to the empowerment of women in business during her career.
- Gugu Khumalo (South Africa): Gugu Khumalo is a South African public health expert.
- Hajer Sharief (Libya): Hajer Sharief is a prominent Libyan peace and human rights activist known for her work with the organization “Together We Build It.” In 2011 at the age of 19, Sharief co-founded Together We Build It to build peace in Libya and promote human rights.
- Letta Mbulu (South Africa): Letta Mbulu is a South African singer and songwriter. She is celebrated for her contributions to jazz and world music.
- Mwangala Maunga (Zambia): Mwangala Maunga is an 18-year-old Zambian innovator. At the age of 12, she built a water purifier entirely powered by solar energy.
- Nkosinathi Innocent Maphumulo (South Africa): Nkosinathi Innocent Maphumulo is a South African Disc Jockey popularly known as DJ Black Coffee. He is Africa’s most decorated DJ, and one of the world’s most-paid DJs.
- Phakamile Mazibuko (South Africa): Phakamile Mazibuko is a South African philanthropist and founder of Phakamile Mazibuko Foundation. Her foundation has helped over 1,500 Grade 12 learners access Higher Education Institutions across South Africa and beyond.
- Pitika Ntuli (South Africa): Pitika Ntuli is a South African academic, sculptor and poet. He became active in the struggle against the apartheid government, as a result of which he was exiled for 32 years.
- Professor Mohamed Hag Ali Hassan (Sudan): Professor Mohamed Hag Ali Hag el Hassan is a Sudanese-Italian mathematician and physicist who co-founded numerous scientific councils. He is the President of The World Academy of Sciences and the Sudanese National Academy of Sciences.
- Professor Nashwa Eassa (Sudan): Professor Nashwa Eassa is a Sudanese physicist known for her work in nanotechnology.
- Theresa Kachindamoto (Malawi): Theresa Kachindamoto is the paramount chief of the Dedza District in the central region of Malawi. She is known for her advocacy for ending early child marriage and promoting education for both girls and boys.
- Waris Dirie (Somalia): Waris Dirie is a Somali model and activist. She is a prominent campaigner against female genital mutilation.
- Wendy Yvonne Nomathemba Luhabe (South Africa): Wendy Yvonne Nomathemba Luhabe is a South African entrepreneur and founder of Women Investment Holdings. She launched the first fund to provide capital to women-owned businesses in South Africa with an R120 million private equity fund.
- Professor Wiseman Lumkile Nkuhlu (South Africa): Professor Wiseman Lumkile Nkuhlu is currently the Chairman of KPMG South Africa. He was the Chancellor of the University of Pretoria and the former Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Transkei. He became the first African to qualify as a chartered accountant in South Africa.
- Professor Abdon Atangana (Cameroon): Professor Abdon Atangana is a leading applied Mathematics professor at the University of Free State, South Africa. He is amongst the top ten mathematicians in the world.
