4 Ghanaians that made it to Forbes Africa's 30 Under 30 Class of 2025 list
Kumasi-born Jackline Acheampong, known as Gyakie, is a 25-year-old Afro-pop prodigy whose honeyed voice weaves Akan proverbs into silky highlife and Afrobeats grooves, earning her a 2025 Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 spot in the. Her single Forever soared on African and UK charts, while her upcoming album After Midnight (August 2025) promises raw storytelling, recorded in her father’s Kumasi studio.
Gyakie’s accolades include a 2024 BET Awards Viewer’s Choice nomination, 2025 TGMA nods for Artiste of the Year, and a 2024 Ghana Music Awards UK win. Her Afrochella 2024 set, infused with Ga chants, drew 20,000 fans, cementing her as Ghana’s global music envoy. Forbes Africa’s cover feature hails her as a voice for Ghanaian youth, blending nostalgia with ambition.
She has forged notable international collaborations that elevate her Afro-pop and Afro-fusion sound. She teamed up with Nigerian star Omah Lay for the Forever remix (2021), winning the International Collaboration of the Year at the 2022 Telecel Ghana Music Awards. Her 2023 track Flames with Nigeria’s Davido blended highlife with Afrobeat energy, while Scar with UK rapper JBEE fused Afro-fusion with British rap. Gyakie also featured on Paradise (2022) with South Africa’s AKA and Musa Keys, merging Ghanaian and South African vibes, and collaborated with Ghanaian-born KJ Spio on the soulful Days Pass By (2024), showcasing her global versatility.
Free The Youth, an Accra collective of creatives, is a fashion dynamo whose electric streetwear fuses kente’s vibrant threads with urban grit, securing their. Their 2024 Africa Fashion Week collection, with Adinkra symbols like Gye Nyame hand-stitched onto bomber jackets, sparked a deal with a global sportswear giant in 2025.
The collective’s Osu art workshops, mentoring 50 young designers, earned a 2024 Ghana Youth Impact Award. Their pop-up at London Fashion Week 2025 drew influencers, showcasing Ghana’s style on a world stage. Free The Youth’s bold aesthetic, born in Accra’s bustling markets, redefines African fashion with unapologetic swagger.
Tamale’s Dr. Khadija Owusu, aged 28, is a medical visionary whose diagnostic app for rural Ghanaian clinics landed her on the 2025 Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 list for healthcare technology. Her startup, HealthLink Ghana, uses mobile tech to detect malaria early, serving 10,000 patients in Northern Region villages, earning her a 2024 African Health Innovation Award.
Owusu’s app, inspired by her grandmother’s battle with undiagnosed illness, integrates Twi-language interfaces for accessibility. Her 2025 TEDxAccra talk, viewed by thousands online, championed women in STEM, per Forbes Africa. Owusu’s work transforms Ghana’s healthcare landscape, blending empathy with innovation.
Accra’s Darlington Ahiale Akogo, 29, is an AI pioneer whose Mino Health AI Labs earned him a 2025 Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 spot for technology. His AI platform, developed in his Legon dorm, diagnoses tuberculosis with 95% accuracy, serving 30 Ghanaian hospitals and cutting wait times, winning a 2024 African Innovate Award and a 2025 Ghana Tech Excellence Award. Akogo’s tech, trained on local patient data, tackles Ghana’s TB crisis, as featured in Forbes Africa.
His 2024 AI Summit talk in London drew Google’s interest, elevating Ghana’s tech profile. Akogo’s relentless drive, sparked by a childhood hospital visit, positions him as Ghana’s tech lodestar.
Gyakie, Free The Youth, Dr. Khadija Owusu, and Darlington Ahiale Akogo, the four Ghanaians on the 2025 Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 list, are lighting up the world with their music, fashion, and tech wizardry. From Gyakie’s soul-stirring hooks to Akogo’s life-saving AI, they’re weaving Ghana’s heritage into global triumphs, sparking pride across the nation. Dive into their work, share their hustle, and join the wave of Ghana’s 2025 rise, where these young guns are crafting a legacy that’s anything but ordinary.
