During the gala evening of the Rebranding Africa Forum, held on October 6, 2018 at the Laïco Ouaga 2000 hotel, seven Rebranding Africa Awards were presented to African personalities who have distinguished themselves as role models in their respective fields. The jury, composed of eleven members and chaired by Mr. Cheick Omar OUEDRAOGO, unanimously selected the following list of winners:
Rebranding Africa Innovation Award
Mr. Flavien KOUATCHA SIMO, a young Cameroonian engineer and entrepreneur who founded Save Our Agriculture.
Media Leadership Rebranding Africa Award
Mr. Alain Foka is a journalist of Radio France Internationale (RFI), producer and host of the magazine “Archives of Africa”, he contributed to the valorization of African memory.
Empowering Women Rebranding Africa Award
Ms Rosine COULIBALY/SORI, Minister of Economy, Finance and Development of Burkina Faso and a former United Nations official. She has taken up many development challenges and through her example, she has contributed to gender promotion.
Business Leadership Rebranding Africa Award
Mr. Apollinaire COMPAORE, a Burkinabe businessman; he is a model of the self-made man. In addition to his Planor Africa group, which operates in the mobile telephony sector, he has just created the Wend Kuni bank.
Development Champion Rebranding Africa Award
Mr. Makhtar DIOP, the World Bank’s Vice President for Sub-Saharan Africa. He has led numerous development projects for the benefit of the African continent.
Lifetime Achievment Rebranding Africa Award
Posthumously to Mr. Kofi ANNAN, who was the former Secretary-General of the United Nations (1997-2006), he put his leadership and experience in favour of peace in Africa during his long career. He died on August 18, 2018 in Geneva (Switzerland) at the age of 80.
Governance Leadership Rebranding Africa Award
H.E. Nana AKUFO-ADDO, the President of Ghana. Elected in 2017, he is engaged in a merciless fight against corruption. The bold choices he made, makes him a model of good political and economic governance.
Diaspora Returnee Award
This Award was first established in 2018 to encourage the reintegration and investment of the diaspora in Africa. However, the jury unanimously decided not to give the prize this year. It will be awarded in October 2019 during the 6th edition in Brussels (Belgium).