Starting your career is no longer for older adults alone. Young Africans including teenagers are now breaking into tech to build thriving careers despite societal standards. These 4 super amazing African teenagers are breaking the bias and achieving remarkable success in their careers. If you find their stories inspiring and you’d like to be like them or you know a young brilliant, innovative African teenager between ages 15-17, we’ve got good news at the end of this article for you!
1. Eniola Anjola Akinosun
Eniola is a 17 year old product designer who was encouraged by her sister to learn product design while she worked with her as a social media manager and graphic designer. Eniola is a beneficiary of the I4GZuri scholarship program. She is also one of the top learners that won a laptop! Since completing the program, Eniola has gotten a job as a product design intern.
Her advice to upcoming Designers is “You are never too young. The earlier you start, the better because it’s never too late. All you need to do is be consistent, go for it, and don’t limit yourself. The sky is not your limit; it is your starting point. So just keep flying!
2. Chijioke Earnest
Earnest started his tech career as a teenager while in the University. He applied for our I4GZuri scholarship program to learn Product Design and successfully completed the course. Earnest now works as the Lead UX Designer at a UK based company and earns in dollars.
During an interview with him, he said “Try to be of value yourself and make tiny progress. And if you’re young too, you have all the time in the world so this is meant to be a career, not a short-term thing. So take your time, progress is progress, one day at a time you’re going to meet those goals you have in mind”
Abigail Inyang
Abigail is a 17 year old Cybersecurity who fell in love with tech when she came across her sister’s jottings from a coding bootcamp. She started learning Python development on her own and eventually got into Cybersecurity. Abigail is now building a successful career in Cybersecurity.
4. Prosperity Olorunfemi
Prosperity is a 19 year old digital marketing consultant and founder of Rumoney, a digital marketing platform that empowers Africans with digital skills. Prosperity has also built Rumoney to be a platform that serves as a talent sourcing and recruitment firm for SMEs. He is also a TED Conference organizer.
Did you find this inspiring? We have an opportunity to empower more brilliant and innovative African teenagers. In partnership with Rise, we are looking for youths interested in making a positive change in the world with their skills.
Winners will get:
1. Access to a fully funded residential summit
2. Need-based higher education scholarships, covering tuition and living expenses
3. Opportunity to secure funding for your innovative ideas
4. Access to a global network of winners and career development programs
5. Starter technology packages, including laptops or tablets
Registration is free- https://www.risefortheworld.org/ingressive4good
If you know a talented, motivated 15, 16, or 17-year-old who could benefit from this incredible opportunity, please share this blog post with them and their parents. You may change their life!