10 Young Afripreneurs Creating Solutions By Recycling and Upcycling

7. Yaye Souadou Fall – E-cover, Senegal

Yaye Souadou Fall is the Founder and C.E.O of E-Cover, a social enterprise that repurposes and recycles tires into useful products. Born and brought up in Senegal, Yaye has always had an interest in environmentally-friendly products and technology. She noticed how tires and plastics littered the environment, and this inspired her to start a venture that would give a solution to this problem.

The startup purpose was to alleviate poor waste management by upcycling in an eco-friendly way in order to create marketable resources, i.e., recycles the tires into shoe soles, tiles, and floor mats, among others.

E-cover has employed six people and is hoping to increase that number. Yaye is responsible for the marketing and the management of her business. Her impact goes beyond the employment opportunities she offers. Many businesses, sports centres, and individuals in several municipalities are benefitting from the eco-friendly products her startup produces.

8. Chineye Okoro Onu – Mosaic Inspiration Project, Ghana

Driven by her passion for art and the environment, Chineye Okoro Onu co-founded Mosaic Inspiration Project, a startup that transforms trash into art and trains other young Africans in the art of recycling. She launched the initiative while studying at Radford University College in Ghana with the aim of creating a platform through which she could teach fellow students and artists how to create great art pieces using trash such as plastic and polythene waste. The Mosaic Inspiration Project also proposes to empower young artists with entrepreneurial skills and training, who then generate a monthly income from the sale of art and exhibitions. Some of their signature artworks are paintings and mosaics of people who have brought positive change to the world.

Chineye has managed to build the venture over the years despite the negative stigma that comes with working with trash, safety concern, and lack of capital. She became an Anzisha Fellow in 2012 and since then, Mosaic Inspiration Project has grown from a local to global startup. She also spends time with her three other co-founders, helping young Ghanaiansrealisee their potential to make a change in their communities as entrepreneurs through the Afri-One Youth Forum, a transformational platform that empowers, inspires, and connects the youth.

9. Cyrus Kabiru- C-Stunners, Kenya

Electronic waste is one of Kenya’s environmental challenge and Cyrus Kabiru offers a solution to that challenge. The young Kenyan sculptor creates ingenious and outstanding spectacles famously known as C-Stunners from recycled electronic waste and objects he finds in the streets of Nairobi. Cyrus has managed to forge a unique path in the creative and fashion industry in Kenya by the different wearables he makes. C-stunners is an eyewear and has gained admiration from fashion and art lovers for their flamboyance designs which often cover the entire face. Cyrus got the desire from his childhood fascination of owning a pair of glasses, which he never did. His work fall in various categories of art ranging from performance, sculpture and fashion. His products especially C-Stunners have become common among the youth who are often seen in the streets of Nairobi adorning Cyrus’s stunning C-stunners made from electronic waste. At the moment he is working on a series that uses thousands of bottle caps sewn together to depict African culture.

He has exhibited his work in various countries including the United Kingdom, the USA, Sweden, the Netherlands, Italy, Turkey and South Africa among others.

10.Mohamed Semdoe – Semdoe Eco-Enterprises, Tanzania

Mohamed Semdoe is the proprietor of Semdoe Eco-Enterprises, a start-up that deals with recycling. The 38-year-old holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Management and it is from his educational background that he desired to have a business venture that explores existing social and environmental challenges and come up with possible solutions based on available resources in the respective environment.

Irked by improper plastic bags disposal in the environment, Semdoe Eco Enterprises collects plastic bag waste and uses them to produce mattresses, carpets and flowers. This inventive start-up does not only help in environmental conservation but also creates employment among the youth and women.

At the moment he only sells his products to the local market but plans to expand and reach out and create a huge market for his products.