Professor Attahiru Jega has been awarded the 2015 Charles Manatt democracy award by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems in Washington.
He was also given the Integrity Award by the Nigerian Higher Education Foundation in New York.
Continue reading Attahiru Jega Receives 2015 Charles Manatt Democracy Award
President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has been honored with the 2015 Clinton Global Citizen Award for leadership in private sector. Dangote Cement also won the Business of the Year Award at the African Business Awards ceremony.
Aliko Dangote is the founder, president, and CEO of Dangote Group. Founded over 30 years ago, the group’s interests include the production and distribution of cement, sugar, flour, and oil, as well as real estate development. Dangote set up the Dangote Foundation in 1993 to drive his corporate social responsibility initiatives, endowing it with $1.35 billion in 2014.
In 2015, Dangote donated $1 million to Nepal to provide relief to the victims of Nepal’s earthquakes and $153 million to boost Nigeria’s fight against Ebola in 2014. He has been named Forbes Africa Person of the Year (2014), Forbes Most Powerful Man in Africa (2013), and listed on TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World (2014). He is a member of the World Economic Forum, the Honorary International Investor Council, and the McKinsey Advisory Council.
In 2013, Dangote was appointed to the steering committee of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Global Education First Initiative. In addition, he collaborates with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to fight polio.
The 2015 Clinton Global Citizen Award for leadership in private sector is in recognition of Dangote’s unparalleled contributions to the development of the human society in Africa and the world over.
The CGI said it recognised the Dangote’s exemplary and selfless dedication to a better life by positively impacting the lives of people globally through numerous philanthropic initiatives implemented through the Dangote Foundation.
Bill Clinton, who presented the Clinton Global Citizen award to the daughter of the business magnate, Halima, who represented him, said Aliko had raised the bar of philanthropy by an African, which is worthy of emulation.
In the words of Halima:
“This award is coming at a time we are expanding both business and philanthropic footprints globally and we are optimistic about creating value that transcends borders, while improving the quality of lives of people globally.
I must say that we are humbled by this recognition and we are encouraged to double our efforts as we work towards promoting Africa’s economic renaissance.
Dr. Akinwumi Ayodeji Adesina has emerged the 8th elected President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB). He was elected to the position on May 28, 2015 by the Bank’s Board of Governors at its Annual Meetings in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
He took office at the Bank’s headquarters in Abidjan on September 1, 2015 and will serve an initial five-year term.
Dr. Akinwumi Ayodeji Adesina, 58, is a distinguished development economist and agricultural development expert with 25 years of international experience. He is the first Nigerian to serve as President of the Bank Group.
Dr. Adesina served as Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development from 2011 to 2015, during which time he implemented bold policy reforms in the fertilizer sector and pursued innovative agricultural investment programs to expand opportunities for the private sector.
He was previously Vice-President (Policy and Partnerships) of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). He was also Associate Director (Food Security) at the Rockefeller Foundation in New York, where he worked for a decade (1998-2008) in senior leadership positions, including as Regional Office Director and Representative for Southern Africa.
Adesina was Principal Economist and Social Science Research Coordinator for the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Principal Economist and Coordinator of the West Africa Rice Economics Task Force at the West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA) and an Assistant Principal Economist at the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). From 2008 to 2010, Adesina was the President of the African Association of Agricultural Economists.
Dr. Akinwumi Ayodeji Adesina has received a number of global awards for his leadership and work in agriculture. In 2010, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appointed him as one of 17 global leaders to spearhead the Millennium Development Goals, along with Bill Gates, the Spanish Prime Minister and the President of Rwanda. He was named Person of the Year by Forbes Africa magazine in 2013.
Adesina earned a first-class honours Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Ife, Nigeria in 1981. In 1988 he completed a PhD in Agricultural Economics at Purdue University in the United States, where he won the Outstanding PhD Thesis Award for his research work. He also won the prestigious Rockefeller Foundation Social Science Post-Doctoral Fellowship in 1988, which launched his international career in global agricultural development.
Born on February 6, 1960, Adesina speaks fluent French and English.