Isaya Yunge

Isaya Yunge (born 23 March 1990) is a Tanzanian internet entrepreneur, speaker and first African J8 delegate to speak at the G8 2007 Summit. He was one of the two Tanzanians who received the Queen's Young Leader Award in 2018 as a recognition for his work to use a scholarship-matching mobile App (SomApp)[1][2] that help more than 7000[3] young African people to progress in their education.[4][5] He is the creator of SomApp a mobile application which enables African students to search for scholarships.[6][7][8]

Isaya Yunge
Born
Isaya Yunge

23 March 1990 (1990-03-23) (age 33)
Tanzania
EducationThe Institute of Finance Management,
OccupationInternet entrepreneur
Years active2007–present
TitleChief Executive Officer of SPEKI Technologies, and Co-founder and CEO of Smart Kaya, LLC
Websitesmartkaya.com speki.co.tz somapp.org isayayunge.com

In 2007 he was selected by UNICEF to be the UNICEF Africa Youth Ambassador[9] and in this position at an age of 17's he spoke at the G8 2007 Summit as UNICEF Africa Youth Ambassador in Berlin Germany.[10][11] In 2019 Yunge was named by Avance media to be among the Tanzania's 50 most influential young People.[12]

Early life

Yunge faced upbringing challenges due to unsuitability of his family caused by his parents living separately. That made him to grow as an outcast child who depended on several guardians who in different time supported him grow including his grandmother. Yunge spent his childhood time herding cows, goat and chasing birds on rice farms.[13][14]

Career

Yunge's enthusiasm in technology industry emerged in 2014 and his visibility increased when he attended a talk with the American economist Jeremy Rifkin on the topic of the fourth industrial revolution, the sharing economy and collaborative commons.[15] He founded SOMAPP Foundation (SomApp) (Soma a Swahili word for Study) a mobile application that helps students to search for scholarships for studies purposes.[16][17][18][19] In 2018 Yunge was mentioned by Forbes to be among 40 African entrepreneurs who represented the continent at the Forbes 30 under 30 Summit in Boston Massachusetts[20] and one of the upcoming Tanzanian billionaires[21] where he spoke with CNBC Africa about the opportunities which the summit could bring to the coming entrepreneurs.[22] Apart from SomApp, Yunge founded other products such as KAYA, a smart speaker using artificial intelligence to collect African related data.[23] He also founded Somafit, smart watch that helps to measures blood pressure and heart beat rate using instantaneous health condition of the user.[24][25] In his 17's he was among the HIV/AIDS educators who persuaded his fellow youth to abstain from the disease.[26]

Leadership and awards
  • In 2018 he received the Queen's Young Leader Award through his scholarship mobile App (SomApp).[27][28][29]
  • One of the top three startups in the world at The Start-up Turkey Award.
  • First prize winner of The 2017 Mobile Money Hackathon in Dar es Salaam (GSMA)[30]
  • Chairperson of the Junior Council of the United Republic of Tanzania.[31]

References
  1. THE QUEEN'S YOUNG LEADERS (2018). "Isaya Yunge". Retrieved 2020-08-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. "Inspiring Tanzanian duo to be hounoured by Queen Elizabeth | The Citizen". www.thecitizen.co.tz. Retrieved 2022-06-03.
  3. BBC, SWAHILI (2018-06-08). "Isaya Yunge: Kijana Mtanzania anayetarajiwa kufanikiwa sana katika teknolojia". BBC. Retrieved 2020-06-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. "Using app to quench thirst for knowledge". The Citizen. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  5. "History Hero BLAST". History Hero BLAST. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  6. "How this disruptor is helping those in need with bursaries". CNBC Africa. 2018-07-13. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  7. database-control (2020-04-07). "Meet Isaya Yunge – CEO SomaApps Technologies". Summit Recruitment & Search. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  8. "TEDxOysterbay | TED".
  9. database-control (2020-04-07). "Meet Isaya Yunge – CEO SomaApps Technologies". Summit Recruitment & Search. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  10. "Young people gather to debate global issues at Junior 8 Summit in Germany". UNICEF. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  11. https://panos.blogs.com/africavox2007/2007/06/the_j9_at_the_g.html Africa vox 2007-African voices at the G8
  12. "Most Influential Young Tanzanians". Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  13. Africa, Forbes (June 4, 2018). "Under 30 Technology". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-08-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. database-control (2020-04-07). "Meet Isaya Yunge – CEO SomaApps Technologies". Summit Recruitment & Search. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  15. database-control (2020-04-07). "Meet Isaya Yunge – CEO SomaApps Technologies". Summit Recruitment & Search. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  16. "Using app to quench thirst for knowledge". The Citizen. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  17. BBC (2019-03-29). "More African governments are censoring the internet". Retrieved 2020-08-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. "Vijana changamoto zisiwakatishe tamaa bali ziwape chachu ya kusonga mbele- Isaya". Habari za UN (in Swahili). 2019-06-19. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  19. "Isaya Yunge – Alliance For AI". Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  20. Africa, Forbes (June 4, 2018). "Under 30 Technology". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-08-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  21. BBC, SWAHILI (2018-06-08). "Isaya Yunge: Kijana Mtanzania anayetarajiwa kufanikiwa sana katika teknolojia". BBC. Retrieved 2020-06-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  22. "How the Forbes Under 30 Summit is developing African entrepreneurs". CNBC Africa. 2018-10-01. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  23. news.un.org. "UN News Kiswahili/ Assumpta Massoi-Ili Afrika tuzifikie SDGs kwa ubora, inabidi tuanze kukusanya takwimu zetu sisi wenyewe-Isaya Yunge". UN. Retrieved 2020-08-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  24. BBC (2019-03-29). "More African governments are censoring the internet". Retrieved 2020-08-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  25. "Vijana changamoto zisiwakatishe tamaa bali ziwape chachu ya kusonga mbele- Isaya". Habari za UN (in Swahili). 2019-06-19. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  26. https://panos.blogs.com/africavox2007/2007/06/the_j9_at_the_g.html Africa vox 2007-African voices at the G8
  27. "Using app to quench thirst for knowledge". The Citizen. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  28. "History Hero BLAST". History Hero BLAST. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  29. database-control (2020-04-07). "Meet Isaya Yunge – CEO SomaApps Technologies". Summit Recruitment & Search. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  30. "Coding, collaboration and competition: The 2017 Mobile Money Hackathon in Dar es Salaam". Mobile for Development. 2017-07-27. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  31. database-control (2020-04-07). "Meet Isaya Yunge – CEO SomaApps Technologies". Summit Recruitment & Search. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.