Ten individuals from the African continent have been invited to join 127 others from around the world at the World Economic Forum’s (WEF's) 2019 class of Young Global Leaders.

The World Economic Forum launched its new class of Young Global Leaders of 127 individuals from around the world under the age of 40 whom it believes are breaking traditional rules in order to improve the world.

The invited individuals to the class of 2019 are among the world’s most promising social activists, business leaders, public servants, artists, and technologists.

The 10 from Africa include Tolu Oni, an associate professor from the School of Public Health and Family Medicine at the University of Cape Town, who, as a leading female African scholar, explores the intersections of health and urbanism.

Anta Ngom Bathily, managing director of Groupe SEDIMA in Senegal who has significantly developed Francophone Africa’s largest agriculture business, while Kamissa Camara, Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Integration and International Communication of Mali, is the country’s youngest and first female minister of foreign affairs, tasked with working for peace, security and development across the Sahel region. Also recognised is Kirsty Coventry, Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation of Zimbabwe. She has won the most Olympic medals of any female swimmer in history and is the most decorated African Olympian.

The Forum said that this year more than one-half of the new members were women, and many of the Young Global Leaders were from emerging economies. They have been selected for representing the best of their generation, for their ability to enhance understanding and promote action, as well as their innovative activity in the fields of art, business, civil society, energy, government, and health.

Members of the new class will take part in a five-year programme that will help them identify ways in which their groundbreaking work can advance new models of innovation and make a difference in their communities.

“We look to these leaders to take forward the challenge of improving the state of the world. In offering opportunities and experiences to transform their understanding of the possibilities presented by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, we are investing in them to drive a future where we all can flourish,” said Mariah Levin, head of the Forum of Young Global Leaders at the World Economic Forum.