Regardless of your age, where you live or even which school you attend, at one point or another you will have heard about Mark Shuttleworth, the South African entrepreneur who ventured into space. The question though is how much do you actually know about his success in business? Did you know for example that Shuttleworth was still studying finance and IT at the University of Cape Town (UCT) when he founded Thawte, an internet commerce security company, which he sold for huge profits only four years later?

Yet we all know about the young Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and how young entrepreneurs can change the world.

The point we are making is – isn’t it about time that Africa told its own narratives of its young entrepreneurs?

Africa is no longer a dark and silent content

We have many of our own success stories to tell and it’s about time we shine the spotlight on our own to instigate African solutions, for Africans, by Africans all over the continent.

There is a wave of promise and a burning fire that young people are blazing alight, all over Africa. Don’t be left behind. There’s still room in this list for your name.

Here are just a few of our own success stories, according to Forbes.

1. Playing your way to the bank
Abiola Olaniran (Nigerian) is best known as the CEO of a Nigerian gaming company, Gamsole. Although founded only four years ago in 2012, their games have over 9 million downloads from all over the world on Windows Phone and Windows 8.
2. Helping big shots tell their stories
Tom Manners (South African) founded Clockwork Media, which now has a portfolio of clients that need no introductions. His Johannesburg based communications agency has worked with the likes of LG Electronics, Tata and Philips just to mention a few. No wonder the company has now expanded to London.
3. Forget about cops and doughnuts
Houston’s first 24 hour doughnut shop Glazed the Doughnut Cafe, is owned by a young Nigerian, Edose Ohen. This shop is argued to be one of Houston’s top doughnut shops and was forecasted to rake in around $1.2 million (about R18 million) in revenues last year.
4. Talking his way to success as a Lead SA Hero
Young South African Emmanuel Bonoko had to grow up quicker than expected when tragedy struck his family. Taking responsibility for his mother after the death of his father, Bonoko earned himself a scholarship and a BCom Marketing degree before choosing entrepreneurship as his career path. EBonoko Holdings a PR, Media Consulting and Events Company, was his launching pad and he used his connections and social media knowledge to propel a social enterprise for book drives and business/career exhibitions through the EBonoko Foundation.

There are so many good things to say about young entrepreneurial Africans, and many more are in the making. If you have ideas, but just don’t know how to convert them into sustainable profit making machines, then you should consider joining our High School Entrepreneurs Society so that mentors can guide you to the top.