Meet the 10 finalists for Africa's Business Heroes 2026
Founders from eight countries, four of them women, will pitch in Kigali in December for $1.5 million in grants.
Key points
- Ten founders from Egypt, Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Benin and Côte d'Ivoire are the Africa's Business Heroes 2026 finalists.
- They were picked from more than 24,000 applications; agriculture and healthcare make up 30% each, and four of the ten are women.
- They will pitch in Kigali on 1–2 December 2026 for $1.5 million in grants, with $300,000 for the winner.
Ten founders from eight countries are through to the final of Africa's Business Heroes (ABH) 2026, the prize competition set up by the Jack Ma Foundation. They were chosen from more than 24,000 applications from all 54 African countries, after semi-final pitches in Nairobi on 21–22 August.
The top 10
- Salma Tammam, REME-D (Egypt): laboratory equipment and chemicals for healthcare
- Ahmed Shaaban, Simplex (Egypt): software and industrial solutions for manufacturing
- Kelvin Umechukwu, Bumpa (Nigeria): business software for small merchants
- Naom Monari, Bena Care (Kenya): health technology
- Louisa Gathecha, Bottle Logistics East Africa (Kenya): industrial logistics
- Samson Fentaye, Thur Biotech Manufacturing (Ethiopia): agricultural biotechnology
- Jess Roussos, BluLever Education (South Africa): education technology
- Joseph Paul, Dawa Mkononi (Tanzania): health technology
- Gildas Zodome, BIO PHYTO (Benin): agricultural biotechnology
- Appessika Adanin Laurent Koffi, Green Agro Valley CI (Côte d'Ivoire): agriculture
Agriculture and healthcare each make up 30% of the group, and four of the ten founders are women. Kenya and Egypt have two finalists each.
The final
The finalists will pitch in Kigali on 1–2 December 2026 for a share of $1.5 million in grants. The winner gets $300,000.
Why it matters
Many of the finalists are building practical businesses in health, farming, logistics and manufacturing, not just apps. They show where African founders see the biggest gaps. African startups have raised more than $2 billion so far this year: read our funding round-up, and about another Kenyan startup, ZeroBionic.
Sources
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