This year wasn’t any different and the publication released names of 30 Africans sourced from four categories featuring 30 in each: Business, Technology, Creatives and Sports.
Here are 3 Kenyan creative personalities who made it into the 2019 Forbes Africa top 30 under 30.
Kevin Njue - Producer, Director, Writer and CEO: Rocque Pictures
In 2013, Njue and his partner released a short film, Sticking Ribbons, that he had written in at their university hostel having used his student loan of $200 to direct and produce the film. The short film went on to win the award for Best East African Talent at the 2014 Zanzibar International Film Festival.
Njue used the monetary reward of $1,000 to invest in his next short film, Intellectual Scum, which went on to screen in 15 film festivals globally.
After gaining experience creating short films, Njue decided it was time to make bigger ones, a full-length feature film. This ultimately led to him founding a business in 2016, Rocque Pictures.
In 2018, the film won the Best Overall Movie in Africa, Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards, making history as the first Kenyan film to be nominated and win in the history of the awards.
Karun is one of Kenya’s rising new wave artists. Born Karungari Mungai, she started her music career at 14 and went on to attend the prestigious Berklee College of Music in the US.
Since then, she has had the opportunity to perform at live festivals and shows across the globe such as the SXSW 2015 (Austin TX) as part of the collective Cosmic Homies.
Karun also performed at the Madaraka Festival (Seattle), Blankets & Wine in Kenya and most recently, the Africa Nouveau Festival, Kenya’s most forward-thinking electric three-day music festival.
Yaa Bonsu - Fashion stylist and Creative
In 2016, Bonsu relocated to Dubai where her career in the fashion industry took off.
In 2017, Yaa Bonsu met international model Naomi Campbell who told her to believe in herself, and then signed a copy of her Vogue magazine.
She has had the opportunity to style an advertorial for the luxury brand Fendi, SS19, in April 2019.
The same year, she produced a fashion editorial for Revolution magazine that featured high-end jewelry – Dior, de GRISOGONO, Bvlgari and Piaget, an achievement she says she is most proud of.
