Ghanaian Company Snaps Top Prize at Africa Business Awards

HE Hifikepunye Pohamba, President, Republic of Namibia & Chair of the South African Development Corporation (SADC) and some of the continent’s leading business leaders such as Vimal Shah, Pascal Dozie and Evelyn Oputu were amongst 350 African ministers, ambassadors, government officials and top business leaders from all regions of Africa present at the African Business Awards 2011, organised by *African Business* magazine and the *Commonwealth Business Council*, to celebrate the achievements of prominent businessmen and women driving growth and development in the Continent.

Despite having received only one finalist nomination, Ghana shone at the conference because of one business leader and a young but dynamic company.

HE Hifikepunye Pohamba presented the *Lifetime Achievement *award to Ghanaian Ishmael Yamson. In an emotional acceptance speech, Dr Yamson said that throughout his life he simply did what he had to: “I wanted to be able to look at my grandchildren in the eyes and be able to respond to them honestly and with integrity when they would ask me what I did, with all these resources, to contribute to the betterment of my country.” And to the young entrepreneurs in the audience, he added “My challenge to all of you young entrepreneurs tonight, and I see many of you here, is that this is now your time.”

mPedigree Network of Ghana, on the other hand, outshone heavyweights like Syngenta (total assets: $17 billion) and Nedbank (market valuation: $10 billlion) to claim the Innovation Prize.

mPedigree is the first company in the world to implement mobile shortcode systems for detecting fake medicines, a cause of death for 2000 people daily in affected regions. mPedigree technology is empowering consumers to instantly verify for free if a particular medicine is authentic with nothing more than a basic cellphone and has been deployed or trialled in several African countries as well as in South Asia. It works with a strategic partner, global technology leader, Hewlett Packard; more than 20 telecom companies; and other stakeholders across the world to champion the patient safety agenda. mPedigree is a member of the Ashoka and World Economic Forum communities.

Etisalat of the UAE and Buchanan Renewables of Liberia were the other winners of new categories, *Investor of the Year and* *Green Award of the Year*, respectively. This year for the first time, an award was jointly awarded to two companies; in what was a dead heat, the award for CSR was won by Olam Nigeria and Microsoft South Africa. Aliko Dangote won the much coveted *Business Leader of the Year *whilst Ethiopian entrepreneur Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu was awarded *Outstanding Businesswoman of the Year*.

The event was co-hosted by *African Business* magazine and the CBC (Commonwealth Business Council), and sponsored by Ecobank and the Bank of Industry. A distinguished panel of judges chaired by Omari Issa, CEO of the Investment Climate Facility selected winners in eight categories from a pool of nominees that came from all over the African continent. The judging panel also included past winner Sir Sam Jonah as well as African experts such as Barbara James, Jean Louis Ekra, Tim Turner of the African Development Bank and Runa Alam.

Omar Ben Yedder, Associate Group Publisher of *African Business* magazine, the organiser of the event said: “All nominated individuals and companies were particularly strong, and the standard keeps getting higher year after year. The attendance of two British Ministers as well as other dignitaries from the world over shows the interest Africa is generating, and we, as a Continent, are starting to make headlines for all the right reasons.”

Dr. Mohan Kaul, CEO of the CBC, stressed the importance of these Awards: “We have been trying to promote over the years a strong partnership between the public and private sectors and we are happy to see the fruits of our labour being achieved, with some world class African businesses being recognised today.”

Arunma Oteh, Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria was also recognised for her contribution in public service.

IC Publications holds two annual awards ceremonies. The next one will be the *African Banker Awards* that will take place during the IMF-World Bank meetings on the 23rd September 2011 in Washington DC.

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