Distinguished personalities receive the Africa Prosperity Champions Awards

Seven distinguished African personalities have been awarded by the Africa Prosperity Network (APN) at its maiden edition of the Africa Prosperity Champions in Accra, Ghana.

The award ceremony held last Friday, under the distinguished patronage of the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, attracted several African leaders, entrepreneurs and other dignitaries from across the African continent.

All the recipients commended the organisers of the Africa Prosperity Network, particularly its Executive Chairman, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, management and entire staff for organising the Africa Prosperity Champions Awards (APCA).

They pledged their continuous support to spearhead the transformation agenda being championed by the APN to achieve the prosperity that Africans want.

The "Social Infrastructure Award," went to Julius Mwale, Principal of Mwale Medical and Technology City (MMTC) in Kenya.

The MMTC is a $2 billion community-owned sustainable city with 35,000 residents and serves as proof of concept for development of sustainable smart cities across Africa. The construction of the MMTC began in 2014 and includes a 5000-bed Hamptons Hospital, among other facilities.

The second award, the "Young Entrepreneur Award," was received by Oluwatosin Oluwole Ajibade, better known by his stage name, Mr Eazi. Eazi is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and record executive. He is the pioneer of Banku music, a fusion of sound he describes as a mixture of Ghanaian highlife and Nigerian chord progressions and patterns.

The "Nation Builder Award," the third of the day, was given to Alassane Ouattara, President of Côte d'Ivoire and presented by John Agyekum Kufuor, former President of Ghana.

Alasane Dramane Ouattara has been President of Côte d'Ivoire since 2010. An economist by profession, Ouattara worked for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Central Bank of West African States and was the Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire from November 1990 to December 1993.

Professor Benedict Okechukwu Oramah picked up the "Financial Leadership Award," which was presented by Wamkele Mene, Secretary General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat. Dr Benedict Oramah assumed the position of president and chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank) on 21 September 2015.

Under his tenure as president and chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, he supervised extraordinary financial investments on the African continent across various sectors of the economies of member states. Under Professor Oramah’s leadership, Afreximbank recently established offices in the Caribbean as it expands its activities to include Global Africa, Africa’s sixth region.

The "Global Africa Leadership Award," went to Mohammed Irfaan Ali, the ninth President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana. Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali was sworn in as Guyana’s executive president on 2 August 2020.

The sixth award, the "Global Africa Champion Award," was given to Baroness Patricia Scotland of Asthal. The Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC is the 6th Commonwealth Secretary-General. She is the second Secretary-General from the Caribbean and the first woman to hold the post.

The last award category, “Industrialist of the Year Award,” went to Mohamed M. Abou El Enein. The award was presented to him by Mr Ibrahim Mahama, founder of Engineers and Planners, and CEO of Dzata Cement Ltd.

Mohamed M. Abou El Enein is a renowned Egyptian businessman, investor, public figure and accomplished politician. He is the founder and chairman of Cleopatra Group, a company that has established many major projects spread all over Egypt. He is also Deputy Speaker of Egypt’s House of Representatives.