On December 5, 2019, the All Africa Business Leaders Awards (AABLA), in Partnership with CNBC Africa, marked its 9th annual event by announcing the continent’s top business achievers at its Grand Finale gala dinner, hosted at the Sandton Convention Centre.
As the largest pan-African focused business awards, AABLA has become synonymous with recognising the achievements of the business leaders in Africa who are upholding and emulating excellence. The awards seek to distinguish and celebrate the decision makers and game-changers of the business world who are excelling in their industry.
Hosted by CNBC Africa’s Fifi Peters and Head of ABN Events Alexander Leibner, who was also Master of Ceremonies for the evening, this year’s AABLA was beautifully themed with black and gold accents. The Grand Finale ceremony saw the continent’s business heavyweights raising their glasses to the achievements of Africa’s industrialists and shining stars who are setting the standard for business excellence on the continent.
The winners of the 9th AABLA are:
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY LANCASTER UNIVERSITY GHANA
- Capitec CFO, André du Plessis
“It is really a great honour for me. I’ve learned over the last few years, if we do what God destined us to do, we don’t just enjoy it, we actually get good at it as well. I really also want to say thank you to all my present and past colleagues. This accolade, I believe, is as much theirs as it is mine. When we founded and started the bank I can assure you it was very, very difficult, a lot of blood, sweat and tears, but a lot of fun as well. I also want to thank my family for the support, especially my wife of 30 years.”
INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY MASTERCARD
- Kobo360 Co-Founder, Obi Ozor
YOUNG BUSINESS LEADER OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY TRANSNATIONAL ACADEMIC GROUP
- Kobo360 Co-Founder, Obi Ozor
BUSINESSWOMAN OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY FORBES WOMEN AFRICA
- Naspers CEO: South Africa, Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa
“Thank you so much for this honour. I am really, really grateful. Most of all I am grateful for the women who have come before me. I saw Wendy Luhabe earlier and truly, to be able to have women like her to look up to, is something that is so phenomenal.”
ENTREPRENEUR 2019 PRESENTED BY CNBC AFRICA
- WeBuyCars Founders, Dirk and Faan van der Walt
“Thanks to AABLA and CNBC Africa for honouring us tonight, and to my wife Tanya of 20 years who is here with me. People sometimes ask me to tell them about the vision and the plan we had when we started WeBuyCars, but the truth is we never really had a plan. Back in 2001, my brother Dirk and I started this business, because we just wanted to improve our own situation and we really enjoyed dealing in cars. I guess the essence of being an entrepreneur is to always be somewhat uncomfortable and dissatisfied with the status quo. We worked on our business and we enjoyed the wins and we learned from our mistakes over the years, and we surrounded ourselves with likeminded people with drive and passion. And tonight I want to dedicate this award to those people who joined our family of nearly 1 000 people right now, because without them, this would not have been possible.”
BUSINESS LEADER OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY THE GAUTRAIN
- Altron CEO, Mteto Nyati
“It is truly, truly an honour to be standing up here. This challenge of taking on a company like Altron, a company that was going through very, very difficult times. Why did I take this kind of a challenge? Altron is a company that is 54 years old. It was founded by an Afrikaner, largely an Afrikaner organisation. But why I took it is because I really wanted to come and create an inclusive company. A company that is reflecting all of the people of this country. A company where when we’re going in there and look at it, it becomes a microcosm of the South Africa that we’d like to live in. A South Africa where we’d like to see our children living in. Where everybody has an opportunity to do their best. This is what this company is offering me, so I’d really like to thank the people of Altron for helping me to be in this position.”
PHILANTHROPIST OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY CHOPPIES
- The Tony Elumelu Foundation Founder, Tony Elumelu (Pictured: Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu – CEO of The Tony Elumelu Foundation)
GLOBAL COMPANY OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY CURTIN UNIVERSITY DUBAI
- Mastercard (Pictured: Mark Elliott – Division President of Mastercard Southern Africa)
AFRICAN COMPANY OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY FORBES AFRICA
- Nedbank (Pictured: Raisibe Morathi – Group CFO Nedbank)
AFRICAN OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY THE RADISSON GROUP
- President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina
“What a huge honour it is for me, and Grace, to be standing here tonight to be recognised as the African of the Year for 2019. Honestly, to be named African of the Year is humbling and inspiring for me at the same time. To be selected in particular to follow last year’s recipient, President Paul Kagame, is indeed a great honour. I have faith in Africa. I work for Africa. My goal every day is to make things better for Africa. I’m grateful for the mark of confidence reposed in me and the heavy responsibility I carry for our continent, and your appreciation for the work I am doing and the efforts we are making collectively. But I do not walk alone. I am inspired by the people of the continent, and I am privileged and honoured to lead the African Development Bank, Africa’s premier development institution. I would like to dedicate this recognition to the people of Africa, who inspire me daily.”
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD PRESENTED BY CNBC AFRICA
- Spur Corporation Founder, Allen Ambor
“Thank you very much for your kind applause and your warm recognition of what these people say I’ve done. Fortunately, you can trust them. The story began a long time ago. I know you’re tired and want to go, so I’m just going to tell you a quick bedtime story. The fact of the matter is that I was very frustrated trying to work for other people, and my dad told me I wasn’t studying hard enough, so I told him I’d pay for my own university, which I did by working in a steak house – one of the first in Johannesburg. I started at the age of 18 and I loved it. I loved the people, I loved the pressure – It was just such a stimulating environment for me. And over the four years that I studied I eventually formulated my dream, because I wanted to become my own boss. And that dream was concreted into reality. As far as Africa is concerned – Africa, your time is now!”
The ‘African of the Year’ winner will also feature on the cover of the December/January issue of Forbes Africa, on shelves from 6 December 2019 at all leading outlets.
The 2019 judging panel, made up of business minds from across the continent, include:
- Anthea Gardner, Founder and Managing Partner of Cartesian Capital
- Dr Snowy Khoza, Executive Chairperson of Bigen Africa
- Renuka Methil, Managing Editor Forbes Africa & Forbes Woman Africa
- Bismarck Rewane, Managing Director and Chief Executive of Financial Derivatives Company
- Dr Kurai Chitima, Senior Lecturer at The Pearson Institute
- Monique Vanek, News Editor of CNBC Africa
- Carmen Nibigira, Project Director of Horwath HTL
- Sam Bhembe, Non-Executive Director ABN Group [Head Judge]
