Trade and Industry Minister John Alan Kyeremante has been unveiled as the best Trade and Investment minister in Africa by United Kingdom-based editorial board of the African Leadership Magazine for 2020.

The keenly contested awards attracted over 220, 000 entries on the website and across social media platforms, as well as submissions via email from Africans across the continent and in Diaspora.

Melaku Alebel of Ethiopia came second in the trade and investment category.

The magazine also unveiled winners in the 17 categories of the African Business Leadership Awards 2020. 

The winners emerged through a 3-step points-based selection process that included a call for nomination; a call for online voting for shortlisted nominees; and the editorial board’s final review of the nominations and voting submissions – using supporting evidence and voting considerations in their final decisions to decide the African Business Leadership Awards 2020 winners.

The online voting was responsible for 65 percentage points and supporting evidence responsible for 35% in the final selection process for the 2020 winners.

The winners were unveiled by the Publisher of the Magazine, Dr Ken Giami, at the UK Head Office of the group after the editorial board reviewed the collated online and offline votes.

Also considered were submissions from the Magazine’s over 1 million subscribers and online followers.

All 17 winners of the African Business Leadership Awards 2020 shall be presented with an award trophy and formally decorated with the instruments of the honour at the5th US – Africa Investment Forum & Policy Dialogue 2020 (virtual), scheduled to hold (Via Zoom) from September 29th – 30th, 2020. 

As Trade Minister and President’s Special Initiatives (PSI) with additional responsibility for Private Sector Development from 2003 to 2007 during the erstwhile Kufuor’s administration, he led the design, development and implementation of innovative programmes and special initiatives which created new strategic pillars of growth for the Ghanaian economy.

Alan Kyerematen played a key role in shaping Africa’s Trade Policy agenda in the WTO Multilateral Negotiations and the EU-ACP Economic Partnership Agreement Negotiations. He was one of the lead negotiators for Africa in the WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancun in 2003.

Additionally, Alan Kyerematen was one of the leading members of the technical team that provided strategic guidance and support to the African Union Commission in developing and elaborating an Action Plan for Boosting intra-African Trade and preparing a framework for the establishment of a Continental Free Trade Area.

As part of this effort, he was designated as a Special Envoy of the African Union to hold consultations with selected African Heads of State prior to the 18th African Union Summit of Heads of State and Government in January 2012.

In his current position as Trade and Industry Minister in Akufo-Addo-led administration, Alan Kyerematen has helped to establish the Business Regulatory Reform, the establishment of an Automotive Development Policy which has attracted the world’s giants in the auto industry with VW being first to have successfully assembled and unveiled its first vehicle and successful implementation of the 1D1F which is one key manifesto promise of the ruling party.

The National Petroleum Authority Ghana was also named the winner of the African Regulator of the Year Category.