African Leadership Magazine has announced Patience Akyianu, Chief Executive Officer of the Hollard Group as one of the winners in the 12 categories of the 2021 African Business Leadership Awards (ABLA).

Mrs Akyianu won the African Female Business of the year with Moroccan CEO of Aksal Group, Salwa Idrissi Akhannouch being the Runner up.

Other winners include Bank of Ghana (BoG) voted Central Bank of the Year; Kwadwo Safo Junior, CEO of Kantanka Group Ghana winning the Young Business Leader of the Year and Kwame Osei-Prempeh, Group CEO for Ghana Oil Company Limited, winning Industry Personality of the Year.

African Leadership Magazine said the keenly contested awards attracted over 300,000 entries on the website and across social media platforms, as well as submissions via email and physical posts from Africans across the continent and in Diaspora. 

All winners and their runners-up shall be presented with an award trophy and formally decorated with the instruments of the honour at the 6th Invest in Africa Summit (Virtual), which is scheduled to hold on September 16 – 17, 2021, from 3.00 pm – 5.00 pm (GMT) daily.

It will be celebrated under the theme: Africa 4.0: Redefining Growth, Sustainability, and Innovation.

The Winners emerged through a keenly contested 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 2021 winners.

The online voting was responsible for sixty-five percentage points and supporting evidence was responsible for 35% in the final selection process for the 2021 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 votes and supporting documents received to bolster the nominations.

The Publisher, Dr Giami, while unveiling the list of winners, made a special note of congratulations to all nominees in the categories and affirmed that each nominee is worthy of recognition and commendation for their selfless services to nation-building.

In his speech, the publisher said the 2021 Africa Business Leadership Award (ABLA) celebrates grit, purpose, and impact in Africa’s business environment, especially in what continues to be a difficult period for most people due to the impact of coronavirus.

He further added that the leaders who have emerged winners in the various categories have exhibited these celebrated attributes in admirable capacities and are deserving of great accolade.

Below is the list of winners as unveiled by the group:

AFRICAN BUSINESS LEADER OF THE YEAR
Segun Ogunsanya, CEO, Airtel Africa, Nigeria – Winner
Simphiwe Tshabalala, CEO, Standard Bank Group, South Africa – Runner up

AFRICAN FEMALE BUSINESS LEADER OF THE YEAR
Patience Akyianu, Chief Executive Officer, Hollard Group in Ghana – Winner
Salwa Idrissi Akhannouch, CEO, Aksal Group, Morocco – Runner up

AFRICAN REGULATOR OF THE YEAR
Poppy Khoza, CEO of the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) – Winner
Silver Mugisha, CEO  Uganda Water and Sewerage Corporation – Runner Up
Brima Baluwa Koroma, Executive Chairman, Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Sierra Leone – Runner up

BUSINESS FRIENDLY GOVERNOR OF THE YEAR
Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Governor, Lagos State, Nigeria Winner
Alan Winde, Premier, Western Cape Province, South Africa Runner up

CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR OF THE YEAR
Harvesh Kumar Seegolam, Governor, Bank of Mauritius – Winner
Caroline Abel, Governor, Central Bank of Seychelles – Runner up

AFRICA TRADE AND INVESTMENT MINISTER OF THE YEAR
Nevin Jameh, Minister of Industry, Trade and Small Industries, Egypt – Winner
AmadouHott,  Minister for the Economy, Planning and Cooperation, Senegal – Runner up

AFRICAN LOCAL CONTENT ICON AWARD
Simbi Wabote, CEO, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board

CENTRAL BANK OF THE YEAR
Bank of Ghana 

AFRICAN CEO OF THE YEAR
Benedict Peters, CEO, Aiteo Group, Nigeria – Winner
Rebecca Mbithi, CEO, Family Bank, Kenya – Runner up

YOUNG BUSINESS LEADER OF THE YEAR
Kwadwo Safo Junior, CEO, Kantanka Group Ghana – Winner
Uzair Essack, CEO, Riyp, South Africa – Runner up

AFRICAN CSR & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IMPACT AWARD
Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC) – Winner
Equatorial Guinea LNG Holdings – Runner up

AFRICAN BRAND OF THE YEAR
Ethiopian Airlines – Winner
Eat’n’Go Africa – Runner up

AFRICAN COMPANY OF THE YEAR
Kiira Motors Corporation Uganda Winner
Vodafone Ghana Runner up

INDUSTRY PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR
Kwame Osei-Prempeh, Group CEO, Ghana Oil Company Limited – Winner
Sabah M. Mashaly, Managing Director, Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC), Egypt – Runner up