Leading pan-African magazine African Business yesterday in London announced the nominees for the 2015 African Business Awards.

The winners will be presented at the awards ceremony, which will take place at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York on 23rd September.

The African Business Awards, which are now in their seventh year, will be held on the eve of the African Leadership Forum, a high level dialogue bringing together some of Africa’s leading political and business actors. The events are taking place on the fringes of the UN General Assembly, which, this year will agree on the next set of Global Development Goals.

The African Business Awards, launched in 2008, are a platform to celebrate excellence in African business, by recognising the individuals and companies that are driving Africa’s rapidly transforming economy and creating new economic opportunities for citizens and communities all over the continent. Entries are assessed by a judging panel of renowned individuals who are chosen for their expertise on the African Business Industry, with scores based on a set of qualitative and quantitative criteria.

This year’s judges are Solomon Asamoah, Vice President: Infrastructure, Private Sector and Regional Integration at the African Development Bank Group; Amadou Mahtar Ba, Chief Executive of the African Media Initiative (AMI) and co-founder and Chairman of AllAfrica Global Media; Jean-Louis EKRA, President and Chairman of the Board of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank); Barbara James, the founder and CEO of the first independent pan-African private equity Fund of Funds, Henshaw Capital Partners; Olajobi Makinwa, Head of Anti-Corruption and Transparency at UN Global Compact; and Sebastian Spio Garbrah Global Managing Director and Chief Frontier Markets Analyst at Damina Advisors.

Commenting on the Awards, Omar Ben Yedder, Managing Director of IC Publications and Group Publisher ofAfrican Business magazine, said: “It is encouraging to read the many achievements that are taking place all over the continent, despite the headwinds and difficult global environment. The continent continues to be blessed with some remarkable individuals, who are driven and relentless in their ambitions to playing a transformative role. The calibre of entries is very high and continues to reflect and recognise Africa's outstanding individuals and businesses.”

The 2015 nominees for the African Business Awards are:

AFRICAN BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

*Chandaria Industries, Kenya

* Dangote, Nigeria

* Ison BPO, Kenya

* Red Media, Nigeria

* Universal Auto Distribution Holding, Tunisia

BUSINESS LEADER OF THE YEAR

*Aliko Dangote, CEO, Dangote Group, Nigeria

* Mohammed Dewji, CEO, Mohammed Enterprise, Tanzania

* Ivor Ichikowitz, CEO, Paramount, South Africa

* Bassem Loukil, CEO, Groupe Loukil, Groupe UADH, Tunisia

* Oscar Onyema, DG, The Nigerian Stock Exchange, Nigeria

MOST OUTSTANDING WOMAN IN BUSINESS

* Amy Jadesimi, MD, Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base, Nigeria

* Gina Din Kariuki, Founder & Executive Chair, The Gina Din Group, Kenya

* Daphne Mashile Nkosi, Executive Chairperson, Kalagadi Manganese, South Africa

* Jasandra Nyker, CEO, BioTherm Energy, South Africa

GOOD CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

* Guaranty Trust Bank, Nigeria

* Mephartech, Democratic Republic of the Congo

* The Nigerian Stock Exchange, Nigeria

* YoungStars Foundation, Nigeria

AWARD FOR BEST CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

* GEMS Education and the Varkey Foundation

* ISON BPO, Kenya

* The Nigerian Stock Exchange, Nigeria

* Red Media Limited, Nigeria

AWARD FOR INNOVATION

* Abellon Clean Energy, Ghana

* International Human Resources Development Corp (IHRDC)

* Invest in Africa

* Uganda Industrial Research Institute, Uganda

* XYPNET, Zambia

The awards have had a number of distinguished winners in the past. The last edition saw Bola Adesola, Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered, Nigeria winning the Most Outstanding Woman of the Year. Other previous winners include Tony Elumelu, Chairman of Heirs Holdings who won the African Business Icon and H.E Mr. Gervais Koffi Djondo, President of Asky Airlines, who triumphed in the Lifetime Achievement Award category.

The Awards are supported by GT Bank, Agility and Cofina.

On the African Leadership Forum, Mr. Ben Yedder said: “I’m looking forward to an engaging day of dialogue and discussions. The aim is to have an honest discussion, so that we are better equipped to chart our future and to think strategically about what we want when we engage with the UN and other international institutions and global partners. We are looking forward to developing really innovative strategies to fast-track sustainable growth in Africa, as well as developing action plans to ensure that African companies and African leaders can compete and make their voice heard globally.”

President Hage Geingob, President of Namibia, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank; Hon. Cristina Duarte, Cape Verde's Minister of Finance and Planning; and Hon. Hannah Tetteh, Ghana's Minister of Foreign Affairs are expected to be speaking at this unique platform to discuss key issues geared at enabling sustainable transformative growth in Africa.

•Photo shows one of the nominees, Aliko Dangote of Nigeria

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