The capital city of Kigali in Rwanda will be hosting the Africa CEO Forum later this month on the 25th and 26th, and already there are new attractions for the summit. For the first time in its 7 year run, the annual Africa CEO Forum Awards, a sideshow for the forum, will feature the “Gender Leader of the Year” award. The award will be presented to an African company that made a pioneering contribution to promoting gender diversity in 2018, including in its management.
The aim of the award is to promote female leadership, a key message of the forum in recent years. The award will be given based on three criteria: women’s representation on the company’s board of directors, the percentage of women on the executive committee of the group and its subsidiaries and, finally, the company’s strategy for promoting female leadership.
It is no coincidence that the country hosting this award for the first time also promotes gender diversity at its highest level of society. 50 percent of President Paul Kagame’s cabinet in Rwanda are women, the highest of any government cabinet in Africa. The country also has 61 percent representation for women in parliament, the highest in the world. Hence, it is only befitting for the onset of the Africa CEO Forum Award for Gender Leader of the Year to begin in Rwanda.
The AFRICA CEO FORUM AWARDS celebrates African business leaders every year, especially those whose companies have contributed to Africa’s business success stories over the year. The five categories under the awards for this year are the CEO of the Year, the Disrupter of the Year, African Champion of the Year, Gender Leader of the Year, and the International Company of the Year. The Disrupter of the Year award particularly is a recognition of the innovative spirit of African entrepreneurs. It will be given to the CEO of a young African company (set up within the last ten years) within the budding tech sector on the continent. This company will stand out “through its significant growth potential in Africa and for the disruptive nature of its activities, which challenge the conventional strategies deployed by more established groups by offering creative solutions.”
In partnership with Mazars, the AFRICA CEO FORUM AWARDS 2019 will grant a total of five prizes on the evening of March 25th among the finalists in the following categories:
CEO OF THE YEAR »
Abderrahmane Benhamadi, CEO, Condor
Alioune Ndiaye, CEO, Orange Middle East and Africa
Mark Bristow, CEO, Barrick Gold
Mohamed El Kettani, CEO, Attijariwafa bank
Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO, Ethiopian Airlines
AFRICAN CHAMPION OF THE YEAR »
Azalaï Hotels
Banque Centrale Populaire
Ethiopian Airlines Group
iSON Group
Mota Engil Africa
OCP Group
Royal Air Maroc
GENDER LEADER OF THE YEAR »
Absa Group
Access Bank
First Bank of Nigeria
Unilever
Ynna Holding
INTERNATIONAL COMPANY OF THE YEAR »
Endeavor Energy
ENGIE Africa
Indorama Eleme Fertilizer & Chemicals
National Aviation Services
Orange Middle East and Africa
DISRUPTER OF THE YEAR »
Africa’s Talking
Baobab+
InTouch
Jumia
Kobo360 Inc
