Nigeria dominates the shortlist for the Forbes African Person of the Year award. According to a report, three Nigerians, a South African and
a Zimbabwean made the list.
The awards celebrate “the individual
who, for better or worse, has had the most influence on events of the year gone
by,” the report said. The award ceremony will hold in December, in Nairobi, Kenya's capital. Here are the 5 shortlisted candidates.
1. South African mining magnate,
Patrice Motsepe, who has said he plans on giving away more than half his
fortune over the next five years.
2. Akinwunmi Adesina, Nigeria’s
Minister of Agriculture: his vision is to make Nigeria a self-sustaining,
food-producing nation and register 20 million farmers by 2015.
3. Aliko Dangote is Africa’s richest
billionaire. His net worth has significantly increased on the back of his
continued business success, allowing him to better the lives of millions, the
report said. Dangote’s personal fortune is said to
be more than $19 billion, according to Forbes.com. Most of it lies in
shares of publicly traded Dangote Cement. In May, Dangote raised $4.5
billion from a consortium of Nigerian banks to invest in Nigeria’s
first private oil refinery. The $9 billion refinery and petrochemical
complex is expected to decrease Nigeria’s dependence on oil imports and
boost Dangote’s fortune significantly.
4. Zimbabwean Strive Masiyiwa is the
founder of global telecoms group, Econet Wireless. Through
Capernaum Trust he educates tens of thousands of Zimbabwean orphans.
An entrepreneur known for fighting corruption, he said he has been
solicited for bribes by government officials, the private sector and even
presidents as he built his businesses in Africa. On a social network
posting that went viral last week, Strive Masiyiwa said his weapon against
corruption was the word “no.”
5. Jim Ovia established Zenith Bank
Group in 1990 – now West Africa’s second largest financial services provider.
His focus has turned to helping grow Africa’s budding “techpreneurs.”
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