Once again, Africa’s force of nature, billionaire Femi Otedola has been honoured for his philanthropic activities on the continent. He was presented with the African Person of the Year award for his philanthropy and charitable contributions to the society.
The award, organised annually by the African Leadership Magazine, was received on Otedola’s behalf by his entertainer daughter, DJ Cuppy, in Johannesburg, South Africa, last Friday.
The event attracted a wide spectrum of African policy, diplomatic and business leaders including the President of the African Development Bank, Akinwunmi Adesina among others.
Published by African Leadership (UK) Limited, the magazine focuses on bringing the best of Africa to a global audience, telling the African story from an African perspective while evolving solutions to peculiar challenges being faced by the continent today.
Since its maiden edition in August 2008, African Leadership Magazine has grown to become a leading pan-African leadership-focused publication read by over 580, 000 targeted international investors, business executives, government policymakers and multilateral agencies across Africa, the Middle East and Asia, Europe and the US. It is distributed at major international and African Leadership events around the world.
It is a niche and unbiased African voice born out of a desire to ameliorate the lot of Africans by focusing on individuals and corporate bodies that are known for their legacy-based approach to leadership.
Its award spin-off, also in its eighth year, is an annual award reserved for distinguished Africans, who are considered to have blazed the trail in the year under review. A shortlist of nominees are selected from results gathered via a call for nominations, 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, which is then followed by the voting process and the eventual announcements of winners.
According to the publisher of the magazine, Ken Giami, “This year, the selection committee retained the four broad themes from the previous year, which include – Africans whose activities, policies and actions have contributed to ‘Investments into Africa’s young people, jobs and wealth creation; promotion of sustainable peace and development, delivering of democratic values; and the promotion of Africa’s image globally’; in arriving at their decisions. Sustainable peace is a precursor to development in the continent, hence the need to encourage state and non-state actors to contribute towards the pursuit of sustainable peace on the continent.”
Interestingly, Otedola was awarded the 2019 Silverbird Television Extraordinary Achievement Award a few days ago.
