Here are 5 most innovative African companies of 2019

African Leadership University

Founded by Ghanaian, Fred Swaniker, in September 2015, the African Leadership University (ALU) earned the number one spot.

In 2008, Swaniker, a Stanford Business School-educated serial entrepreneur, founded ALU’s sister organization, the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg. It was dedicated to educating the next generation of African leaders.

Moreso, In 2015, Swaniker expanded that effort and opened the ALU in Mauritius, an institute of higher education designed to teach leadership skills to Africa’s brightest and to fight the brain drain.

Furthermore, In 2017, he opened his second undergraduate campus of ALU, in Kigali, Rwanda. The ALU is training future African leaders by moving away from more traditional university programs, as students select missions to pursue, rather than majors, said the magazine.

Gladly, Swaniker is now expanding even further with the new ALX accelerator program, which runs six-month courses in leadership and technical skills in areas like data science and operational management from low-cost setups such as co-working spaces.

ALU has also rolled out an innovative approach to student finance, in which students pay nothing up front for their education. Instead, they only pay a share of their income to investors once they are employed.

ALU already has campuses in Mauritius, Rwanda, and Kenya, and will use its funding to open its doors in Johannesburg, Lagos, Cape Town, and Casablanca.