Scilla Owusu, Lewis Appiagyei, Wisdom Mawuli Parku – See the Ghanaians featured in Forbes Africa #30Under30 2020 List

Forbes Africa has announced it’s annual “30 Under 30” list, featuring 30 young entrepreneurs, leaders and changemakers across Africa. These amazing ladies and gentlemen are challenging conventional wisdom and rewriting the rules for the next generation.

According Forbes Africa, over 3000 nominations were received and out of the selected 30, 3 Ghanaians made the cut.This year, the business magazine list had 100 nominations in total before short-listing to the 30, changing the face of business and society today.

The list also considered for selection those who were under the age of 30 as of March 31, 2020. The youngest list-maker this year is just 16. “Leaving an ordinary career path to start something new and original is difficult and lonely, and success is not linear. Making the list must also be an incredible encouragement to the brave young people who’ve struck out on their own,” Fran Luckin, Chief Creative Officer at Grey Africa said.

See the Ghanaians who made the list below.

1. Scilla Owusu, 23, Video Director, Producer, Screenwriter, and Founder of Youngtrepreneurs
Ghanaian-born British producer and director, Scilla Owusu, has indicated her preparedness to support the development and growth of the creative arts industry in Ghana.

The 23-year-old said she is very much aware of the importance of the creative arts sector in its contribution to the good reputation of the country.

Scilla Owusu, who is also a screenwriter, has formed a workshop, Youngtrepreneurs, which is a social impact workshop to provide youth led workshops in different creative sectors.

2. Wisdom Mawuli Parku, 26, Founder, Majora Group

Majora Group began in a mining community and town called Obuasi in Ghana in 2017 with subsidiaries in travel, education, consultancy, photography and printing.It came about when Mawuli wanted to travel to the US but encountered an unfavourable experience.

“I lost over GHC3,000 ($541) when I had wanted to travel to the US in 2014 and consulted a travel and tour company on campus. My visa was sadly turned down but it spurred me to conduct a detailed research in the travelling and ticketing industry, hence the birth of Majora Group,” he told FORBES AFRICA.

After the business started, Mawuli again lost a sum of GHC12,000 ($2,162) to a fake Ghanaian recruitment agent in Dubai, leading the business to further setbacks.

“This major setback led my business to huge debt which nearly collapsed after a few months of commencement. Lastly, the Obuasi office caught fire in June 2018 which made me change the entire wiring system of the office building, hence incurring huge financial losses,” he says.

It took a while but Mawuli was able to get the business back on track.

They have sold over 1,000 trips, serviced more than 800 clients and secured five academic accreditations from universities in Europe and Canada as recruitment partners.

The company has grown 57% in revenue in the last year, he says, and now has two branches in Obuasi and Accra and consists of a staff of nine people.

3. Lewis Appiagyei

The exploits of young Ghanaian champion racing driver (junior champion, Buckmore Park) Lewis Appiagyei has received massive thumbs up from his UK base and around the world.

At age 15, he had already written his name in gold; a Guinness World Record holder, a feat he recorded in 2014 in virtual racing on the PS3 for the fastest lap driven on Laguna Seca Circuit.

He ‘raced’ to fame at age seven and has not looked back, winning his first major trophy in 2012 aged just eight as Junior Rookie of the Year.

Two years on, he won his first international race in Dubai, cementing the belief in Lewis that he is one of the best in the world in his age category.

The following year, he went to the SODI World Finals in Paris to compete with the best and brought back a World Series trophy.

Lewis Appiagyei won the “GUBA Young & Talented” award in 2013.

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