Chimamanda, Dangote nominated for Forbes Africa Person of the year

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is no stranger to book lovers. The Half of a Yellow Sun writer is among the finalists in this year’s Forbes Africa Person of the Year Award. PHOTO/FILE

By  EVELYNE MUSAMBI

What you need to know:

  • Other finalists this year are South Africa’s Thuli Madonsela, who helped draft the country’s constitution in 1994, and Rwanda’s Donald Kaberuka, whose 10 years as the president of the African Development Bank defined economic transformation in Africa.

  • Nigerian Arunma Oteh, the director-general of the Securities and Exchange Commission who is responsible for regulating the country’s capital markets, is the fifth finalist this year.

  • Forbes Africa on Thursday announced its nominees for the award that will take place at the Capital Club in Nairobi on December 4.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is no stranger to book lovers. The Half of a Yellow Sun writer is among the finalists in this year’s Forbes Africa Person of the Year Award.

This is a departure from the past for the prestigious award that has in the past gone to economists and business people.

If she wins, Adichie, who is also the author of Americanah, will become the first writer to win the award.

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The annual award will also see one of Africa’s top businessmen, Aliko Dangote, battle for the person of the year recognition for the fourth time, as he has been among the finalists since 2011 when the award was started.

Dangote, who has in the past been named Africa’s richest person, has been nominated several times due to his business growth that has seen him introduce a new business model every year.

OTHER FINALISTS

Other finalists this year are South Africa’s Thuli Madonsela, who helped draft the country’s constitution in 1994, and Rwanda’s Donald Kaberuka, whose 10 years as the president of the African Development Bank defined economic transformation in Africa.

Nigerian Arunma Oteh, the director-general of the Securities and Exchange Commission who is responsible for regulating the country’s capital markets, is the fifth finalist this year.

Forbes Africa on Thursday announced its nominees for the award that will take place at the Capital Club in Nairobi on December 4.

While unveiling the finalists, Chris Bishop, managing editor of Forbes Africa, said he looks forward to the award.

“This is always one of the big nights of the year in Africa and the person we choose is a talking point throughout the following year. Every year I get phone calls from around the globe to speak about how we chose the winner,” he added.

PAST KENYAN WINNER

Kenya has had a finalist in the award who turned out to be the winner. Equity CEO James Mwangi became the 2012 Forbes Africa Person of the Year for making banking services available to low-income earners.

Wangari Mathai was also a finalist in the award in 2011, though she never became the overall winner.

Last year’s person of the year was Nigeria’s Akinwumi Adesina, the agriculture minister who turned the country’s farmers into business people, edging out reliance on subsistence farming.

This year’s winners will be subjected to a public vote via this link and the public opinion will form part of the judges’ final decision.

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