UN General Assembly Honours Africa’s Top Business Leaders

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?Leading African businessmen Tony Elumelu and Edward Boateng were amongst those that received accolades at the African Business Awards 2013. The exclusive presentation ceremony, organised by African Business magazine, was held at the Mandarin Oriental New York this weekend. Guests included many high profile policy makers and businessmen who are also in New York for the UN General Assembly.?

Tony Elumelu
Tony Elumelu

Ethiopian Airlines scooped the prize for African Business of the Year. The airline has a unique business model and has created a profitable and growing franchise in what are tough times in the aviation industry.

Another winner on the night was Togolese businessman Gervais Koffi Djondo. He is one of the founding fathers of the pan-African banking group Ecobank and also the founder of the West African regional airline Asky. He was rewarded for dedicating his life to creating regional giants to enhance pan-African trade and regional integration. The Nigerian banker, investor and philanthropist Tony Elumelu received the African Business Icon award, an award given by the committee to an individual who has helped to transform the business landscape through their work. Standard Chartered’s Nigerian Managing Director Bola Adesola was the winner of the Outstanding Woman in Business category. The Award for Innovation was given to the newly launched Kenyan project, Mawingu, which leverages innovative new wireless technologies utilising unused TV band spectrum (“TV white spaces?) and solar powered base stations to deliver nationwide broadband access.

 

The much coveted Business Leader of the Year went to Edward Boateng. This entrepreneur may not be a household name in African business circles but in a very short space has created an influential media group in his home country Ghana, as well as putting in place best business practices with an emphasis on sustainability, human capital and the environment.

 

Commenting on the Awards, Omar Ben Yedder stated: “the winners tonight again show the array of talent we have across the continent. The private sector is undoubtedly taking the lead in helping transform the continent, in terms of what it can do and in terms of creating opportunities and solutions out of problems. We are also seeing the private sector work better with government in what are being called transformational partnerships. We are not yet there in terms of creating global world beating brands but we are definitely on the right track, as demonstrated by the talents on show tonight?.

 

The African Business Awards are organised by African Business magazine and BusinessinAfrica Events and produced by IC Events. The Awards preceded the African Leadership Forum, a gathering of African leaders to discuss issues of leadership within an African context.

 

The Awards are supported by GTBank and Mota-Engil Africa (Platinum Sponsors); Bank of Industry and Microsoft 4Afrika (Gold Sponsors); DHL and Fasken Martineau (Silver Sponsors); African Development Bank (Official Sponsor); Paramount Group (Sponsor); and A PINs for Peace (Supporting Sponsor).

 

Winners

 

Lifetime Achievement Award

HE Gervais Koffi Djondo, President, Asky Airlines

 

African Business Icon

Tony Elumelu, Chairman, Heirs Holdings

 

African Business of the Year

Ethiopian Airlines, Ethiopia

 

Business Leader of the Year

Edward Boateng, CEO, Global Media Alliance, Ghana

 

Outstanding Woman in Business

Bola Adesola, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered, Nigeria

 

Award for Good Corporate Governance

The Abraaj Group, UAE

 

Award for Innovation

Mawingu, Kenya

 

Most Admirable and Valuable Brands in Africa

Global Brand: Coca Cola

African Brand: MTN

 

?After 40 years of continuous reporting on Africa’s economic landscape, the London-based African Business magazine has justifiably earned its reputation as one of the world’s publishing icons. African Business, published by IC Publications, is distributed in over 100 countries around the world. It has become an essential component of the knowledge base for organisations, institutions, companies and individuals involved in every economic aspect concerning Africa. IC Publications produces in total ten pan-African titles in English and French.

Distributed by the African Press Organization on behalf of IC Publications Ltd.

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