Career
Margaret Anadu, Abasi Ene-Obong & Olugbenga Agboola make “Fortune 40 under 40” 2020 List
Fortune, released its popular yearly “40 Under 40” list which recognises 40 individuals who are below the age of 40 and are considered to be influential leaders in their respective fields.
The publication says to reflect the wave of transformation caused by the coronavirus pandemic, it chose 200 individuals this year across five categories: finance, government and policy, healthcare, media and entertainment, and technology.
This year, several Nigerian co-founders and CEOs such as, Abasi Ene-Obong of 54gene, Olugbenga Agboola of Flutterwave, Obi Ozor of Kobo360, Margaret Chinwe Anadu of Goldman Sachs, and Ghanian-British actress Michaela Coel feature on the list.
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Finance
Recognised for his work as the co-founder and CEO of Flutterwave, a fintech company that provides payment services for businesses operating in Africa.
According to Fortune, he led the firm through a Series B funding round, which injected $35 million into the company, which will help Flutterwave, provide more payment products. He is a graduate of the MBA program at MIT’s Sloan School of Management worked as an application engineer at PayPal and in product management at Google Wallet.
As head of the urban investment group of Goldman Sachs and the youngest female Black partner in history at age 37 in 2018, Anadu has spearheaded much of the big bank’s efforts to invest in underserved areas and particularly communities of colour. She oversees 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.
Technology
Founded by Obi Ozor and Ife Oyedele, Kobo360 is a tech-enabled logistics startup that aggregates end-to-end haulage operations. At Kobo360, Ozor spearheads the company’s growth as CEO, no wonder he’s being recognised for his efforts in trying to digitise an age-long offline industry and providing innovative solutions along the way.
You’ll be unsurprised to learn that Ozor was once Uber Nigeria’s operations chief (and, before that, an investment banker for JPMorgan).
Healthcare
Abasi Ene-Obong is the co-founder and CEO of the biotech startup 54gene, founded in 2019. The startup utilises human genetic data derived from diverse African populations, to improve medical products in the continent. According to Fortune, he hopes to spur a biotech revolution in Africa and one of the reasons he was selected was because of the company’s exploits during the pandemic.“As with many companies, COVID-19 has brought some change. When the crisis started, 54gene provided equipment to public labs in Nigeria, as well as testing, setting up molecular diagnostic labs across states within the country.”
Helen Adeosun is the CEO of digital training platform CareAcademy. Adeosun, the daughter of Nigerian immigrants and a former Teach for America volunteer, got a master’s in education policy at Harvard before founding her Boston-based business in 2013. Health care organizations use CareAcademy online video coursework to help their employees stay up-to-date on their certifications and other training requirements.
