"It was an honour to present this award in Kenya, for the first time, in the month of the country's 50th birthday. Akinwumi Adesina was considered a worthy winner by the judges as he is a man on a mission to help Africa feed itself. We hope it will encourage the rest of the continent to grow more of its own food. Also, last year, we presented a Kenyan with the award in Nigeria - this year it was the other way round, which shows how much Forbes Africa is pan African", said Chris Bishop, Forbes Africa's managing editor.
A Lifetime Achievement Award was also given to Manu Chandaria, founder of East African industry conglomerate, Comcraft Group of Companies.
"Through his establishment of the East Africa Business Council, Chandaria has been a driving force in the rollout of the East African Community, which has provided local corporations with wider avenues, thus enabling their growth. With a combined GDP of around $100 billion and a population of 140 million people, it is a huge step in the right direction towards intra-African trade," said Davlynne Lidbetter, general manager of Forbes Africa, in her speech congratulating Chandaria.
The other finalists for the Forbes Africa Person of The Year 2013 were: Aliko Dangote, founder and president, Dangote Group; Patrice Motsepe, founder and executive chairman of African Rainbow Minerals; Strive Masiyiwa, founder of global telecoms group, Econet Wireless and Jim Ovia, founder of Zenith Bank Group.
The Forbes Africa Person of the Year is to celebrate the individual who has had the most influence on events of the year gone by. It has, since its inception two years ago, reportedly attracted the highest calibre of nominees from across the continent.
Without being bias, the Agriculture Minister impact is really improve agricultural interest in Nigeria. We need more people like him with vision to drive the true transformation that Nigerians have been craving for. The power sector really need to improve to save SMEs, and Industrial downfall
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