All Africa Business Leaders Awards (AABLA™), in partnership with CNBC Africa, have announced the 2018 West African finalists, after the completion of a rigorous and extensive selection process.
The 8th edition of the AABLA will honour business excellence and leaders who have made considerable and remarkable impact on their various industries, individuals, communities, continent and the world at large.
According to the judges committee of the AABLA, the guiding principle was selecting individuals, who have shown leadership competences, continued commitment to excellence, developing best practices, innovative strategies and have demonstrated that they are game changers of business in West Africa.
The team of judges evaluated hundreds of applications, narrowing down to the nominees in the categories of Business Leader of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, Business Woman of the Year, Young Business Leader of the Year, Company of the year, Innovator of the Year, Industrialist of the Year, Philanthropist of the Year and the Lifetime Achievement Award.
For the Business Leader of the Year Category, the finalists are Joseph Agyepong, Chairman, Jospong Group of Companies (Ghana) and Valentine Ozigbo, CEO, Transcorp Hotels (Nigeria); Adenike Ogunlesi, Founder, Ruff “n” Tumble and Achenyo Helen Asimegbe, CEO, Stylemark Mall Enterprises both from Nigeria, for the Entrepreneur of the Year. Finalists for The Business Woman of the Year are Clare Omatseye, Founder and CEO, JNC International and Amy Jadesimi, Managing Director, LADOL, both from Nigeria.
In recognition of the Young Business Leader of the Year Presented by Lancaster University, Dr Elikem Tamaklo, Managing Director, Nyaho Medical Centre; Achenyo Helen Asimegbe, CEO, Stylemark Mall Enterprises and Ronke Bamisedun, Founder, BWL Agency, from Ghana and Nigeria respectively, emerged as finalists. For the Innovator of the Year, Dr Raphael Nyartokey Obu, Director, RNG Medicine Research Lab and Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola, CEO and Founder, Wecyclers, from Ghana and Nigeria respectively.
The finalists for the Company of the Year Presented by Hollard are Zenith Bank Plc, Transcorp Hotels Plc and Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc; all from Nigeria, While Tony Elumelu Foundation from Nigeria emerged winner of the Philanthropist of the Year Award, West Africa.
Finalists from all corners of the continent will meet at the AABLA Grand Finale to crown the All Africa winners at an exclusive gala dinner in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 29 November 2018.
Past West African business leaders who have received this prestigious awards from the All African Business Leaders Awards includes Access Bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Herbert Wigwe for Business Leader of the Year Award in 2017 ; Guaranty Trust Bank for Company of the Year and Alloysius Attah, Co-founder and CEO of Farmerline for Young Business Leader of the Year.
The judges are Bismarck Rewane, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Financial Derivatives Company Limited; Biola Alabi, Founder and Managing Partner, Biola Alabi Media; Folusho Phillips, Executive Chairman, Phillips Consulting and head judge Peace Hyde, Head of Digital Media and Partnership, Forbes Africa – West Africa.