Wema Bank Plans Return to National Bank Position

Wema Bank HQ

Wema Bank has announced plans to return to national bank status by December 2012.
The bank announced its plans to reapply for National Banking License in view of a proposed tier 1-capital injection of around N35 billion by December 2012.
This development was fueled by a 29 per cent increase in gross earnings and 56 per cent increase in operating income by the bank for 2011, which was disclosed at a presentation to financial regulators and the public in Lagos.
On the bank’s performance and plans the Managing Director/CEO, Segun Oloketuyi, said despite the present situation of the bank, it was committed to its revival plans without compromising on the bank’s values of integrity, professionalism, and exceptional service delivery.
According to Oloketuyi, “The past three years have seen Wema Bank evolve into one of the leaders in the retail banking space through a well-structured transformation process that has seen the implementation of sound corporate governance and risk management frameworks to further engender a stronger and more dynamic business model.
We are thus confident in our resolve to translate challenges into opportunities and maximizing value for all stakeholders”
He said, the N35billion tier-1 Capital raising plans were almost concluded, which commenced a few months ago with a firm commitment of N15 billion by a core investor already in place.
“We expect to begin the process of seeking regulatory approval as soon as all the necessary plans are finalized,” he stated.
A review of the bank’s financial performance shows significant rising trend since 2009 when the new management came on board in December, with gross earnings growing from 35.02 per cent to N25.64 billion.
Oloketuyi confirmed that, in December the bank’s gains in earnings and various cost-containment strategies were largely wiped off by one-off impairment charges on assets culminating in a loss after-tax loss N7.6 billion, the bank is better well positioned financially and economically now.
He added “a growth of 9.45 per cent to N222.24 billion was recorded in total assets in 2011 whilst an aggressive focus on cleaner loan books and better risk management has seen a significant reduction in NPL ratio from 56 per cent in FY2010 to 14 per cent in FY2011 (NPL now 4.5 per cent as at Q3, 2012)”.
Speaking on the injection of additional capital, Oloketuyi articulated confidence that it will allow the bank attain most favourable business results by driving volumes as more risk assets and investment securities are financed in the short-to-medium term.
BusinessNews

Oshiomhole takes oath of office for another four years

Former labour leader and re-elected Governor of Edo state, Adams Oshiomhole today (Monday) took an oath of office for another four years at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin, Edo State.
Oshiomhole pledged before a large crowd to rededicate himself to the development of the state.
It would be recalled that the Governor was sworn in as Governor of the state in 2008, after the Appeal Court had declared him the authentic winner of the April 14, 2007 governorship election in the state
which he contested with Prof. Osarhiemen Osunbor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Oshiomhole was voted back to office in the July 14, 2012 governorship election where he defeated the PDP candidate, Gen. Charles Airhiavbere with a wide margin.
Prior to the end of his first term, Oshiomhole had dissolved the caretaker committees in the 18 local government areas of the state and on Friday, he also dissolved the State Executive Council.
DailyPost

Educational qualification brouhaha: Oshiomhole on cliff-hanger! *As Appeal Court prepares judgment

By Anslem Edugie

 

The die has now been cast in the legal tussle at the Court of Appeal holden at Benin City in the election petition matter between Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, and the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the July 14, 2012 governorship election in the state, Major-General Charles Ehigie Airhiavbere, rtd., as the learned Justices prepare to make a final pronouncement on their interpretation of the electoral sections and provisions in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and the relevant sections of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) pertaining to whether or not the Election Petition Tribunal has jurisdiction to hear cases of non-qualification of a candidate in an election.

            On Wednesday, November 7, 2012, the legal counsels to both the Petitioner, Major-General Charles Airhiavbere rtd., and the 1^st Respondent, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, were at the Appeal Court defending their pole positions while holding brief for their principals.  The court premises, as expected, was filled with enthusiastic supporters who waited patiently outside as they could not gain entry into the court room where proceedings were going on.

            As the crowd waited outside, the legal representatives sweated to make their presentations as convincing as possible for the learned Justices, producing motions, citing legal authorities and elucidating on the points of law upon which they were marshalling their prayers. 

Though, counsels to the 1^st respondent made a case for the adjournment of proceedings to give ample time for the petitioners to file a response to their appeal to the court of 5^th November, 2012, Chief Akpofure SAN, appearing for the petitioner, obviously to forestall any delay tactics to keep postponing the case, retorted that though he got his copy late, he had, about that time, begun filing his response that the hearing should continue. Oshiomhole’s counsels had pleaded that outside of the non-qualification issue, which carries Airhiavbere’s prayer of disqualification, there was no other prayer tied to other issues in the petition; and since the Election Tribunal said it had no jurisdiction to entertain the case, the court should set that issue aside and consider it a non-issue.  After patiently listening to the legal counsels of both parties, the learned Justices ruled that a date for the final pronouncement of the Court of Appeal would be communicated to them at a later date.

  However, rumours had been circulating among the crowd of supporters outside in the court premises that the case had been thrown out, resulting in the ecstatic jubilation of the ACN supporters.  The supporters of the PDP candidate only began their own celebration after being informed by their leaders, who were streaming out of the court room, that no such thing had happened.

            It would be recalled that on September 27, 2012, the now disbanded, ‘compromised’ Tribunal, headed by Hon. Justice Suleiman M. Ambursa, had ruled that the tribunal had no jurisdiction to entertain the case of non - qualification and certificate forgery alleged against Comrade Adams Oshiomhole by General Airhiavbere’s Petition, indicating that it was a pre-election consideration only fit for the High Court.

            However, In a Notice of Appeal to the Court of Appeal, Benin, dated 2^nd October, 2012, with Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole, Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Resident Electoral Commissioner (Edo State) and the Returning Officer, Edo State Governorship Election as respondents, lead counsel to Major General Airhiavbere, (Rtd.) Chief Efe L. Akpofure, SAN, MCIArb, raised seventeen (17) grounds of objection against the September 27, 2012 decision of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, citing appropriate particulars of errors and praying the Court of Appeal, Benin, to grant his client (Major General Airhiavbere, (Rtd.) two reliefs: “an order of this Honourable Court setting aside the Ruling of the Tribunal, except the part stating that the ground of corrupt practices and non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) contained in paragraph 8 of the petition is competent having been in substantial compliance with Section 138 (1)(b) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) and the decision refusing to strike out the 4^th and 5^th Respondents from the petition;” secondly, “an Order of this Honourable Court remitting the petition to a Tribunal, differently constituted, for hearing and determination.”

            Chief Akpofure, SAN, in the Notice of Appeal, maintained that the learned Chairman and member of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal severally erred in law in the consideration of a number of issues leading to the September 27, 2012 ruling, even as he cited legal principles, sources and authorities to elucidate on the observed errors.

            For instance, on Ground 4 in the Notice of Appeal, Chief Akpofure, SAN, observed that “the learned Chairman and member of the Governorship Election Tribunal sitting at Benin City, erred in law when they held that the Tribunal can entertain the motion of the 1^st and 3^rd – 5^th Respondents at this stage of the proceedings and proceeded to resolve the issue whether or not the Tribunal can assume jurisdiction to entertain the said motion at the stage of proceeding in favour of the 1^st and 3^rd – 5^th Respondents.” 

While elucidating on the particulars of error, Chief Akpofure maintained that “the issue canvassed by the petitioner in his written address in opposition to the applications was to the effect that the 1^st and 3^rd – 5^th Respondents, having raised and incorporated their preliminary objection on the point in their replies to the petition, were caught by the provision of paragraph 12(5) of the 1^st Schedule to the Electoral Act 2010 (as Amended) and were therefore estopped from bringing any application and or moving any application bordering on the same issue already raised by them by way of preliminary objection in their replies.”  He said “on the contrary, the 1^st and 3^rd – 5^th Respondents contended in their written addresses that they have the right under the extant law to raise the issue by way of preliminary objection in their replies and at the same time by way of an application before the hearing of the Petition.”

            The Notice of Appeal also faulted the position of the Tribunal when it held that “the effect of Section 31 (1) – (6) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) to the pleadings in paragraph 25 of the Petition is that the Petitioner ought to have approached the High Court for the determination of what the Petitioner considered as false in the Form CF001 or any other document submitted to INEC (3^rd Respondent) by the 1^st Respondent in the 2007 and 2012 Election.” 

It argued that “Section 31(5) did not make it mandatory for a person who has reasonable grounds to believe that any information given by a candidate in the affidavit or any document submitted by that candidate to be false to file a suit at the Federal High Court, High Court of a State or Federal Capital Territory against such person seeking a declaration that the information contained in the affidavit is false.”

            While pointing out that Section 31 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) did not remove the jurisdiction of the Tribunal to hear issues raised with regards to non-qualification of a candidate, Chief Akpofure, SAN, in the Notice of Appeal, noted that “the Tribunal failed to appreciate that after an election has been held, it is only an Election Tribunal that can inquire into the qualification of the candidate vide Section 138 (1) (a) of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended),” insisting that “whilst the Federal High Court has jurisdiction to inquire into the qualification of a candidate before an election, it ceases to have jurisdiction once an election has been held.”

            Read the particulars of errors on Ground 8 of Chief Akpofure’s Notice of Appeal: “Section 285 (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) vests jurisdiction on the trial Tribunal to hear and determine the petition.  Section 138 (1) (a) of the Electoral Act confers jurisdiction on the Tribunal to inquire into the qualification of the 1^st Respondent.  Section 182 (1) (j) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) makes the presentation of a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission a ground for disqualification from contesting Governorship election.”

            The Counsels to Major General Airhiavbere, (Rtd.) also faulted the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal for striking out paragraph 25 of the Petition, insisting that the Petition ought to have been read together with paragraph 24 by the Tribunal before arriving at any conclusion on paragraph 25 and added that “the law does not allow averments in paragraphs in pleadings to be read in isolation.”  Major General Airhiavbere’s Petition had pleaded in paragraph 24 that the 1^st Respondent, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, did not meet the minimum educational qualification that is required to contest for the office of the governor of Edo State .  While noting that the minimum qualification is stated clearly in Section 177 (d) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), the Notice of Appeal argued that “there is no law or rule of practice that prohibits reliance on facts associated, related or tied to Form CF001 submitted by a candidate to INEC (3^rd Respondent) … A community reading of paragraphs 12 (iv), 24 and 25 of the Petition puts it beyond doubt that the academic qualification of the 1^st Respondent was being questioned in the Petition.”

            Both parties to the legal tussle, and all other such sundry, correlating interests, would now have to wait for the ruling of the learned Justices of the Court of Appeal to know whether or not the Edo State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, has legal jurisdiction to entertain the case of non-qualification charge alleged against incumbent governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole by Major-General Airhiavbere’s petition.

  TheNavigator

As Oshiomhole begins 2nd tenure: Mixed reactions envelop 1st tenure performance

By Ken Edokpayi

 

Beginning from November 12, 2012, a fresh tenure of another four years, would commence for embattled Executive Governor of Edo State , Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole, to try to take adequate stock of his performance in the last four years, re-organize and re-project himself and his team for improved performance in the next four years.

            There is no doubt that the state’s political landscape, in the last four years, has been very eventful.  Outside the criticized performance of Governor Oshiomhole in the driver’s seat of the administration by the opposition parties and interests, there were two crucial elections, which heighten the political tempo in the state.  First was the general elections featuring the States,’ National Assembly, and Presidential Elections; and secondly, in the twilight of the four-year tenure, precisely on July 14, 2012, the enormously hyped gubernatorial election took place, the outcome of which is still generating huge columns of legal dust.

            How do the people of Edo State feel about the performance of the governor, and what are the views of critical opposition interests in the state on their assessments of the performance of the governor?  The Navigator went to town to speak to a cross section of Edo people.  Excerpts:

            “There is no doubt,” opened up Barrister Oamen Edetanle, “that after an almost lifeless 8-year tenure of the Lucky Igbinedion administration in the state, a greater majority of Edo people yearned for someone else to bring more enduring creativity into their quest for egalitarian life.  Then, out of the blues, came in Comrade Adams Oshiomhole of the Action Congress of Nigeria. 

“Yes, the way the people felt those Igbinedion days, they would have voted for anyone at all.  But the emergence of Oshiomhole has brought a ray of hope that government could intervene on the side of the people and transform the state of our infrastructures.  This, he has done in the last four years.”

            Barrister Edetanle, who spoke with The Navigator in Ekpoma, the administrative headquarters of Esan West local government area, maintained that “ Edo people are, no doubt, grateful for his contributions so far.  Though, there is still a whole lot left undone, as a person, I strongly believe he would use these coming four years to do more for the people and further etch his names in the consciousness of the people.  I do not hesitate to wish him well.”

            However, Elder Solomon Edosomwan, a Benin-based public affairs analyst, while referring to Oshiomhole’s first tenure as “a fluke,” observed that the governor, “who willy-nilly floated with Lucky Igbinedion in all his frivolous escapades that siphoned a great deal of the state’s resources,” has so far capitalized on “the people’s naivety in, not only appreciating him, but wrongly showering unrestricted encomiums on him for the miserable little he has done with the so much that he has received.”

            While noting that “quite a lot has been done in transforming public schools’ infrastructures in the state,” Elder Edosomwan stressed that “funds used in the upgrading of school infrastructures are from a special counterpart financial source, which is different from the monthly financial allocation to the state.  What is he doing with what accrues to the state and all other such proceeds from the dehumanizing tax regime, which the helmsman at the State Board of Internal Revenue, say contributes over two billion Naira to state coffers monthly?

            “How do you measure performance? Is it by constructing a 7km Airport Road , Benin City for the third year running without any headway, at a whopping sum of over N11billion?  Over eighty percent of the roads in Benin City , the state capital, which the governor says he has transformed, are not motorable. Residents have been passing through hell on these roads these past four years. 

“The huge sum the governor has so far expended on Airport Road , especially after changing contractors, could have conveniently rehabilitation all the roads and adjoining streets in the whole of the GRA Benin.  That is the road, whose contract he says would terminate at the Ogba River .  As we speak, three years after, the road is still being rehabilitated.  Funny enough, they have started planting flowers on the road from the Ring Road end of it; whereas rehabilitation work has not reached Oko Central Road junction! 

“Yet, he keeps poke-nosing into federal government projects all in the game to share credit, even with World Bank-assisted projects.  He is doing walk-ways on Dawson – Uselu – Ugbowo – Lagos road, which the federal government is reconstructing. But when that long stretch of road was worse off, he mandated the erection of signposts indicating the road was a federal government responsibility.  Gov. Oshiomhole plays politics with his projects; that is what I find revolting.  He does projects for people to clap for him.  That is why over 95% of the few projects he has executed are where people can see and clap.

            “He spent the last four years using almost a hundred million Naira to plant flowers at the Ring Road, when people in Ugbihoko, Evbuotubu, Upper Sokpoba, Useh, Irhirhi and adjoining suburbs, are so neglected that they now feel they are not part of Edo State .  He spent over N300million citing a Water Fountain at the Ring Road, when pipe-borne water is unavailable in the whole of the state! Taps have run dry in Benin City .  A stone’s throw from the Water Fountain is Sokponba Road .  Residents wake up to see the Water Fountain, and yet trek distances in search of boreholes to fetch water from!  Is this not hypocrisy of the first order?”

            He chastised the state governor for “deceiving Edo people saying that he had procured a Dando-drilling machine to sink boreholes in all of Edo Central senatorial district.  Go to Edo Central today to see the plight of the people in search of water.  Have you forgotten that seven students of the state-owned Ambrose Alli University , Ekpoma, fell into an old, dilapidated well, while searching for water to use?  We know that two of those students eventually died.  Is that what you call performance? 

“What I see is a whole lot of deceit.  His performance in the last four years has been a fluke.  The people clapping for him and praising him to high heavens are like the proverbial village people who when they come to a city the first time would exclaim ‘Oyinbo no good o!’ He is a propagandist, who is spitefully giving out bits and pieces to long, over-starved people and saying, ‘afterall, they did not get this much when Lucky Igbinedion was governor,’ while he is amassing wealth for himself and building a N10.8billion mansion in his native Iyamoh village.  Can he compare his performance, in all honesty, with what Gov. Fasola is doing in Lagos , or what Gov. Amaechi or Gov. Akpabio, are doing in Rivers and Akwa-Ibom respectively?”

The public affair analyst took the governor to task over the closure of Edo Line Transport Company and the other moribund state industries and companies, which he has failed to revive.  Said he, “people are condemning Lucky Igbinedion today; but to me, in certain regards, I would say the young man tried to create an impact, especially in the development of state industries.  But in four years of nonchalance and negligence, Oshiomhole has further driven the coffins of these industries deeper into the graves, instead of finding a way to resurrect them to provide more humane job opportunities for our teeming youths.  In four years, Edo has seen greater misery in the industrial sector.  This is terribly unacceptable.”

Elder Edosomwan challenged Gov. Oshiomhole to forget about expecting praises for his first tenure efforts, enjoining him “to conscientiously utilize the second mandate, which the majority of Edo people have given him to really work for the people.  He should forget about propaganda; he is not in competition with anyone, not with the PDP or any other party.  He should simply utilize the resources of the state for the people, and posterity will not forget him.  That is when he would have truly made a name for himself in the consciousness of the people; not all these razzmatazz about praise-catching dispensation of peanut projects, window-dressing and flower-planting that we have seen in the last four years.”

In his own contributions, Chairman, Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, Edo State, Comrade Godwin Erhahon, called on Gov. Oshiomhole to consolidate on his first tenure achievements, enjoining him to take his commendable infrastructural development programmes into the rural communities so that people in the grassroots would benefit from the democratic dividends.

            The CPC State Chairman challenged the state governor to sustain his development programme and the discipline he had inculcated into public service in the state, so that in the next four year, Edo State would have a better story of him to tell.

            Comrade Erhahon particularly noted the contributions of the Edo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, ESOPADEC, in the development of oil producing areas and sued for its sustenance, even as he enjoined the governor to constitute a new cabinet of persons with integrity, vision and intellect to join him in moving the state forward.

  TheNavigator

Propaganda can’t save Oshiomhole now, Imasogie declares

By Clement Agho

 

It has again been asserted that no amount of propaganda or manipulation of lies and half-truths, or the untoward creation of imaginary images of violence and latent threats, could alter the straight judicial consideration of the Election Petition case brought before the Nigerian Judiciary and the court of public opinion, by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the July 14, 2012 gubernatorial election, Major-General Charles Airhiavbere, rtd., against the candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, and governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

            Making the assertion in an exclusive interview with The Navigator last week, arch-supporter of Major-General Airhiavbere, rtd., and prominent leader of the PDP in Edo South Senatorial district, Owere Dickson Imasogie, condemned in very strong terms the paid publication in the Vanguard of Thursday, 8 November, 2012, on Page 52, released, supposedly, under the auspices of The Bini Truth Movement, and signed by one Edosa Efosa Osazuwa, to the effect that there would be high resistance should Comrade Adams Oshiomhole be legally vacated from office as Governor of Edo State as a result of legal issues arising from the July 14, 2012 gubernatorial election, which are already before the Election Tribunal.

            While conjecturing that the publication could still be one of the propagandist’s antics of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, and its leaders, Owere Imasogie, however, challenged security agencies in the state not to rest on their oars but to remain vigilant and conscious of the unguided threat to the peace and security of Edo State inherent in the newspaper publication.

            In his words, “such threats are uncalled for.  The case is already before a legally-constituted Election Petition Tribunal, whose outcome every concerned citizen of this country is waiting for.  It could yet be one of the propaganda stunts of the ACN, because they thrive on propaganda and the spreading of spurious claims.  This is because I do not think The Bini Truth Movement, if there is ever any group like that really, would raise and commit over N400,000 that that publication would have cost them, to meddle in a case that is not their own. 

“What business are they doing to get that kind of money to throw away?  They are not the mouth-piece of Gov. Oshiomhole. If anything, they should be asking their governor to answer to the charges against him without rigmarole.  Let the governor come out with what he has as qualification and let’s re-valuate it.  They listed in the publication all the qualifications they say Oshiomhole has, fine.  Let him show up at the court, period.  Is it the threat of resistance on pages of newspapers that will convince the judges and PDP? No! They are not helping issues.  Was Prof. Osunbor not vacated from the Government House by a court’s pronouncement in 2008? Did anybody set fire anywhere?  You cannot plant yam and expect to reap plantain.  I will also like to call on the ACN to advise and educate its people on how not to breach public peace.”

Owere Imasogie also condemned the spread of false information by the ACN leaders, which also occurred on Wednesday November, 7, 2012 at the premises of the Court of Appeal to the effect that the learned Justices had thrown out the case brought before the court, whereupon the party supporters in the premises started jubilating.  He reaffirmed that there was no such declaration by the court, which promised to communicate to the parties to the case, the date for its judgment.

The party leader expressed implicit confidence in the integrity of the judiciary to objectively adjudicate in the pending petition of Major-General Airhiavbere’s, and called on the PDP supporters, and all other interested citizens of Nigeria, to patiently await the pronouncement of the court on the issues before it 

 The Navigator

PDP is behind Boko Haram in Borno – State Government

The Borno State Government has pointed accusing fingers at the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP as being behind the problem of Boko Haram in the state, alleging that all those killed so far were members and chieftains of All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP.
The state government said ANPP officials were killed in the guise of Boko Haram attacks, just as it expressed dismay that President Goodluck Jonathan, Vice President Namadi Sambo, Senate President David Mark, ministers and other top government officials had never visited the state since the activities of Boko Haram started because Borno State was controlled by an opposition party.
Meanwhile, the PDP national leadership has called on opposition political parties to come out and tell Nigerians if they were causing violence in the country because they want the party (PDP) out of power.
 DailyPost

Genevieve Nnaji included in Arise Magazine’s World’s 100 Dynamic Women List

Nollywood superstar, Genevieve Nnaji, has been named as one of the 100 dynamic women, selected by Africa’s global style and culture magazine, Arise. Other Nigerian women included in the list are Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Deola Sagoe, etc.
The women of immense popularity, influence and power, were profileod in the latest edition of the magazine and they were chosen from all over the world, from all spheres of life.

Here is the full list;
Business and Law
Ayo Obe, Vice Chair, National Crisis Group, Nigeria
Bridgette Radebe, President, South African Mining Development Association, SA
Cherie Blair, lawyer, UK
Dambisa Moyo, economist, Zambia/US
Dr Eleni Gabre-Madhin, founder, Ethiopia Commodity Exchange, Ethiopia
Eva Muraya, co-founder and CEO, Color
Creations Group, Kenya
Fatou Bensouda, Chief Prosecutor,International Criminal Court, The Gambia
Genevieve Sangudi, Managing Director, Carlyle Group Africa, Tanzania
Hajia Bola Shagaya, founder and CEO, Bolmus Group International, Nigeria Irene Charnley, CEO, Smile Telecoms, SA
Isabel dos Santos, investor and businesswoman, Angola
Jonitha Gugu Msibi, Senior Partner, Ernst & Young, SA
Maria Ramos, CEO, Absa Group, Portugal/SA
Minoush Abdel-Meguid, co-founder, Union Capital, Egypt
Monhla Hlahla, Chair, IDC, SA
Ngozi Edozien, Director, Actis West Africa, Nigeria
Nombulelo ‘Pinky’ Moholi, CEO, Telkom SA LTD, SA
Nonkululeko Nyembezi-Heita, CEO, Arcelormittal South Africa, SA
Phuti Malabie, CEO, Shanduka Group, SA
Rosalind Kainyah, Vice President, External Affairs & CSR, Tullow Oil, Ghana/UK
Stella Kilonzo, Chief Executive, Capital Markets Authority, Kenya
Susan ‘Santie’ Botha, Chancellor of the Nelson Mandela University, SA
Teresa Heinz Kerry, businesswoman and philanthropist, US
Thuli Madonsela, public protector, SA
Tsega Gebreyes, Managing Partner, Satya Capital, Ethiopia/UK
Wendy Ackerman, retail tycoon, SA
Wendy Luhabe, social entrepreneur, SA
Culture + Media + Sport
Ahdaf Soueif, writer and activist, Egypt/UK
Angélique Kidjo, singer and campaigner, Benin
Angelina Jolie, actress, US
Buika, singer, Spain/Equatorial Guinea
Charlayne Hunter-Gault, journalist, US
Charlize Theron, actress, SA/US
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author, Nigeria/US
Genevieve Nnaji, actress, Nigeria
Dr Johnnetta B Cole, Director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art, US
Kanya King, founder, Music of Black Origin (MOBO) Awards, UK
Kerryn Greenberg, Curator (International Art), Tate Modern, SA/UK
Lira, musician, SA
Mariam Doumbia, vocalist, Mali
Oprah, media mogul, US
Oumou Sangaré, musician, Mali
Rungano Nyoni, filmmaker, Zambia/UK
Serkalem Fasil, journalist, US/Ethiopia
Sophie Okonedo, actress, UK
Thandie Newton, actress, UK/Zimbabwe
Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator, Studio Museum in Harlem, US
Tirunesh Dibaba, runner, Ethiopia
Wanuri Kahiu, film director, Kenya
Yvonne Chaka Chaka, singer, SA
Fashion Alek Wek, model and campaigner, South Sudan
Ann McCreath, KikoRomeo designer, founder of FAFA and Fashion for Peace, Kenya
Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, founder, soleRebels, Ethiopia
Candice Swanepoel, model, SA
Deola Sagoe, fashion designer, Nigeria
Folake Folarin-Coker, fashion designer,
Tiffany Amber, Nigeria
Franca Sozzani, Editor-in-chief, Vogue Italia, Italy
Hanaa Ben Abdesslem, model, Tunisia
Iman, model, campaigner and entrepreneur, Somalia/US
Laurence Chauvin Buthaud, designer and founder, LaurenceAirline, France/Côte d’Ivoire
Lisa Folawiyo, founder and Creative Director, Jewel by Lisa, Nigeria. Liya Kebede, model, Ethiopia
Liya Kebede, model, Ethiopia
Nadiyah Spencer, Director of Sourcing and Production, SUNO, US/Kenya
Oluchi Orlandi, model, Nigeria
Sharon Wauchob, Creative Director, Edun, Ireland
Vivienne Westwood, designer, UK
Politics + Activism
Hon Aicha Bah Diallo, Chair of the Forum for African Women Educationalists, Kenya
Dr Asha-Rose Migiro, former UN Deputy Secretary-General, Tanzania
Awa Marie Coll-Seck, Minister of Health, Senegal
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, activist and writer, Somalia/Netherlands/US
Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé, former Prime Minister, Mali
Diezani Alison-Madueke, Minister of Petroleum Resources, Nigeria
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President, Liberia
Elsie Kanza, Director, World Economic Forum, Tanzania
Graça Machel, advocate for human rights, Mozambique
Ida Odinga, Founder, Ida Odinga Trust, women’s health campaigner, Kenya
Joyce Banda, President, Malawi
Joy Phumaphi, Vice President, Human Development Network, World Bank, Botswana
Leigh Blake, founder, ACT V, UK
Leymah Gbowee, peace activist, Liberia
Melinda Gates, philanthropist, US
Mphatheleni Makaulule, founder, Mupo Foundation, SA
Dr Mphu Ramatlapeng, former Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Lesotho
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of Finance, Nigeria
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chair, African Union, SA
Odile Sankara, activist and comedian, Burkina Faso
Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga, speaker, Ugandan Parliament, Uganda
Sarah Brown, campaigner, UK
Waris Dirie, model, author, campaigner, Somalia
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, politician, SA
Baroness Valerie Amos, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs & Emergency Relief Coordinator, UK
Zainab Hawa Bangura, UN Special
Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Sierra Leone
Science + technology
Dorothy K Gordon, Director General, Advanced Information Technology Institute, Ghana
Juliet Ehimuan, Google Nigeria Country Manager, Nigeria
Isis Nyong’o, Vice President and Managing Director for Africa, InMobi, Kenya/US
Maggie Aderin-Pocock, space scientist and BBC presenter, Nigeria/UK
Dr Natasha Sauven, paediatrician, Sierra Leone/UK
Ory Okolloh, Google Policy Manager for Africa, Kenya
Tebello Nyokong, scientist, Lesotho
Thyla van der Merwe, Association of South African Women in Science and Engineering, SA
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