3 African Presidents,1 Football Star, others emerge winners in the 10th ALM Persons of the Year Award

Source: APO

The African Leadership Magazine Persons of the Year Awards committee has unveiled the President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, as the African Political Leader of the Year 2021; the President of Botswana, Mokgweetsi Masis, as the African Peace & Security Leader of the Year 2021; Egyptian Football Star, Mo Salah, as ALM Young person of the Year 2021, alongside five other distinguished Africans in a keenly contested poll.  

The poll, which has become the continent’s premium, annual vote-based awards, attracted over 10,000 votes on the ALM website, over 1 million active online engagement during the voting period, and over 5000 votes via email. 

As has been the tradition in the past nine years, winners shall be decorated and presented with honour instruments on February 26th, 2022, during the annual African Leadership Magazine Persons of the Year Award ceremony. This year, the event is billed to hold virtually and set to host influential Africans in business, politics, and all spheres of the African leadership spectrum. The winners were unveiled by the Publisher of the Magazine, Dr Ken Giami, at the U.K. Head Office of the group. The announcement of the winners was preceded by the awards committee working with the editorial team to collate online and offline votes and submissions from the over 1 million subscribers/followership base of the publication. 

The complete list of winners is below: 

African of the Year 2021: 

1. His Excellency Lazarus Chakwera, President of Malawi (Winner) 

2. His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa (Runner-Up) 

African Political Leader of the Year 2021: 

1. His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta, President of Kenya (Winner) 

2. His Excellency Filipe Nyusi, President of Mozambique (Runner – up)   

African Female Leader of the Year 2021: 

1. Stella Fubara, Director of International Operations with the Dubai Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing (DTCM) (Nigeria) (Winner) 

2. Mukwandi Chibesakunda, CEO, Zambia Commercial Bank (Runner-Up)    

African Educationist of the Year 2021 

1. Professor Barnabas Nawangwe, Vice-Chancellor, Makarere University, Uganda (Winner) 

2. Sir Arthur Jarvis Archibong, Founder, Arthur Javis University (Runner-Up) 

 African Industrialist of the Year 2021

1. Tabitha Karanja, Founder and CEO, Keroche Breweries, Kenya (Winner) 

2. Mo Dewji, MD/CEO, MeTL Group, Tanzania (Runner-up) 

African Philanthropist of the Year 2021 

1. Dr Helen Oritsejafor, Founder & Chairman, A Hand to the Needy Foundation, Nigeria – Winner 

ALM Young Person of the Year 2021 

1. Mo Salah, Football Star, Egypt (Winner) 

2. Lupita Amondi Nyong’o (Runner – up   

Africa Peace & Security Leader of the Year 2021 

1. His Excellency, Mokgweetsi Masisi, President of Botswana (Winner) 

2. His Excellency Alassane Ouattara, President of Cote d’ivoire (Runner-

The African Leadership Magazine Persons of the Year Awards, the leading vote-based third-party endorsement in the continent, has continued to attract interest from Africans within and in the Diaspora. 

The Chairman of the African Leadership Organization, in his remark, said that “unveiling of the winners of the African Leadership Magazine Persons of the Year, has become part of the organization’s new year practice that a large number of Africans look forward to.” Continuing, he maintained that “the nominees and eventual winners for this year, as in previous years, are deserving of these coveted awards because they have all contributed to making the continent a better place.” 

In his words, “these nominees have demonstrated great faith in the Africa project, and are ‘walking their talk’ in their communities, helping in changing the negative narratives about Africa globally. They all are true lovers of Africa, determinedly contributing, sometimes amidst challenging circumstances but undoubtedly making Africa and the world a better place for all.” 

The African Leadership Magazine Persons of the Year, which is in its 10th year, is an annual award reserved for distinguished Africans who have blazed the trail in the year under review. A shortlist of nominees are selected from results gathered via a Call for the nomination – traditionally promoted via paid online and offline campaigns across the continent, Europe, and the Americas. The call for nomination is the first step in a multi-phased process.