Book Title: Under 40 CEOs: How We Made It in Africa, Vol 1
Publisher: Bata Media Limited Under 40 CEOs
Year of Publication: 2019
Number of Pages: 225
Category: Business
Familusi Babajide has been an ambassador for young African entrepreneurs for some time with his TV show Under 40 CEOs. The show is shot and viewed in about 24 African countries covering interviews of 100s of young African business leaders.
The book Under 40 CEOs: How We Made It in Africa, Vol 1 adds a feather to his cap and crowns his efforts on empowering the next generation of business leaders. Babajide is very much an entrepreneur, and his book about the stories of 52 young entrepreneurs from across Africa strongly encourages you to be the same – “these stories were firstly designed to inform, inspire, educate and equip the next generation of African Business Leaders” he says at the back cover of the book.
From South Africa to Nigeria and Ghana, the faces profiled in the book are of actual founders, CEOs and leaders who are active in a wide range of endeavor and fields – from technology to real estate, media to engineering, finance to public service, entertainment and social enterprise etc.
I follow all 52 of the faces featured and one might not be familiar with several of the prior to reading the Under 40 CEOs: How We Made It in Africa Vol 1, yet in making your way through the text, the value they offer in terms of knowledge, experience, and ideas are succinct and comprehensible.
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Each chapter focuses on one business leader and the candid account of their successes and setbacks–from an intern to a young junior Engineer to Head of Engineering to Director of Business Development and Engineering to Managing Director. The narrative is sprinkled with anecdotes to keep things interesting and these stories make an enjoyable reading experience.
In the span of 225 pages, an extraordinary amount of information is processed and documented. However, the reader does not need to read the chapters in sequence, one can simply select the business leader one is interested in and use the relevant recommendations that resonate. Disappointingly, 17 are women and 35 are men – it seems that men have a better shot at leadership positions in business and careers.
There should be no mystery about what to expect in a book with this title, as the choice clearly shows there’s so much information to absorb from this compendium. The insight in the book allows you to see the actions of those changing the world for the better and contributing to the continent’s economic growth across various sectors but you never feel too overly burdened which demonstrates a major strength of the Under 40 CEOs: How We Made It in Africa, Vol 1.
This is the type of book you would need refer to again and again if you want to become an influential business leader in Africa and you could use a copy of the Under 40 CEOs: How We Made It in Africa Vol 1 as an essential reference book for years to come.
About the reviewer
Titilade Oyemade is a business executive in a leading organisation and holds a degree in Russian Language. She’s the convener of the Hangoutwithtee Ladies Event and the publisher of Hangoutwithtee magazine. She spends her weekends attending women conferences, events and book readings. She loves to have fun and to help other women have the same in their lives. Email: [email protected] Social: @tiipree
