Five Nigerians — Femi Otedola, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Akinwumi Adesina, Folorunso Alakija, and Paul Enenche have made the 2020 list of 100 most reputable Africans.
The list, which was pooled by Reputation Poll International, a leading global reputation-management firm, had 47 women and 53 men drawn from across Africa. These prominent individuals are active players in different professional fields such as education, advocacy, business, entertainment, and more. Nairametrics understands that the main selection criteria for the list are integrity, visibility, and impact.
For instance, Nigeria’s Folorunso Alakija, South Africa’s Dr. Precious Moloi-Motsepe, and Ethiopia’s Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu were all featured for their contributions to Africa’s economy through their business ventures.
On leadership, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Sierra Leone’s Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr OBE, Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, and Ghana’s former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang were all featured.
Other notable personalities on the list include Nigerian Pastor Paul Enenche; South Africa’s Prof. Wiseman L. Nkuhlu, Chancellor of the University of Pretoria and Chairman of Rothschild (SA); Guinean Economist Cellou Dalein Diallo, and Cameroon’s Dr. Vera Songwe who is the Executive Secretary of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
While announcing the list, the incoming African Chairperson of the Review and Audit Committee/Member of the Board, Ms. Beldina Auma, affirmed that the organisation was committed to honouring people that make positive impacts around the world.
More Details: Reputation Poll is known globally for its annual ranking of the 100 Most Reputable People on Earth and Most Reputable CEOs in various countries. The selected persons are celebrated for their social impact, entrepreneurship, for transforming businesses and touching lives positively without controversy.
The backstory: Recall that AfDB’s Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina was just recently cleared by an investigative panel set up to review an ethics committee report that was earlier submitted, clearing his name of all alleged misconducts. Earlier this year, some whistleblowers levelled allegations of misconduct against the AfDB boss. The United States of America had rejected the initial ethics committee report and had called for an independent review.
As Nairametrics reported, the panel reviewed about 16 allegations in total and dismissed all of them, thereby agreeing with the ethics committee findings.
In the meantime, Nigeria’s former Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has continued to receive many endorsements in support of her WTO Presidency ambition.
