Meet WEF’s Young Global Leaders of 2016 – 9 Africans driving 4IR

World Economic Forum media release

Geneva, Switzerland, 16 March 2016 – The World Economic Forum announced 122 scientists, government leaders, future business leaders, social activists and artists, aged under 40, who are shaking up policy, society and the world around them.

Over half of the Young Global Leaders Class of 2016 are women and the majority are from emerging economies. Taken together, they represent the very best of this generation and, as public services worldwide face funding shortfalls, they emphasize the need for future leaders to be tech-savvy, civic-minded innovators.

The full list can be downloaded here.

Of the 122, the majority have already agreed to join the Forum of Young Global Leaders (YGLs), a diverse community whose members work together on initiatives that benefit society. YGL efforts to date have led to initiatives and businesses aimed at tackling global water shortages, the working conditions of factories in poor countries, a waste-free world, poor health and education for schoolchildren and spinal injuries. A list of notable initiatives involving YGLs is available here.

Current and former YGLs head governments and Fortune 500 companies, win Nobel Prizes and Academy Awards, become UN Goodwill Ambassadors and Social Entrepreneurs. The new YGLs will be asked to work with one another over the next five years resolving some of the world's toughest challenges.

"Technology is reshaping the way global economies work and how jobs are created. For young leaders, this encompasses the most promising innovations of our day but also the challenges of huge disruptions to labour markets, socio-economic and demographic changes, resource scarcity, global conflicts and slowing productivity. We want these young leaders to be part of the solution and to provide a community that helps them to break down silos, work across sectors, bridge cultures and have the skills get things done in private, public and civil society organizations," said John Dutton, Director and Head of the Young Global Leaders Community at the World Economic Forum.

The nine Africans making up the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders Class of 2016: