African Development Bank
President Dr Akinwumi Adesina received the African of the Year Award from the
All Africa Business Leaders Awards (AABLA™), Thursday night, in recognition of
his bold leadership and the innovation of the Africa Investment Forum which
“opened up billions of dollars of investment into the continent.”
The Africa Investment Forum
(https://AfricaInvestmentForum.com/), inaugurated in 2018, has been a
trailblazer in tilting investments into the continent. The second edition of
the Forum which was held in Johannesburg, South Africa ended on 13 November. It
was attended by over 2,000 delegates and secured investor interest worth $40.1
billion – up from $37.1 billion the previous year.
“It is indeed a great
honour,” Dr Adesina said in remarks during the exclusive gala dinner held at
the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, at which the awards were
announced. Adesina added that he was overwhelmed to follow in the footsteps of
his “big brother” President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, who won the award in 2018.
“My heartbeat is to serve the people of Africa,” Adesina said.
The event was attended by
an A-list of business leaders, government representatives including David
Makhura, Premier of Guateng Province, who gave the opening address. The event
also attracted some of South Africa’s leading personalities. Vibrant music was
provided by The Muses, a South African all-female string quartet and “Dr Victor
And The Rasta Rebels.”
The awards are decided by a
jury of continent-wide judges led by Sam Bhembe, CNBC Africa Non-Executive
Director, following evaluation of a shortlist of finalists to determine the
overall category winners.
Bhembe said the award
reflected how the winner would “shape the future of the African continent,” and
that the winner would brace the cover of a special edition of Forbes Africa.
In other categories of the
2019 awards, Nigerian Co-Founder of Kobo360, Obi Ozor won Young Business Leader
of the Year; Naspers CEO: South Africa, Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa took the
Business Woman of the Year award; while Nedbank, won the Company of the Year
award.
Adesina dedicated his award
“to the people of Africa who inspire me… I do not work alone.” He also said it
was very rewarding to be at the helm “of an organisation that paves the way to
progress.” Enditem
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