Goodir Somali Import Export Education: Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship

http://africaawards.com/
Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship

Accra, October 12, 2012 - The African Leadership Network, the premier membership network of new generation leaders in Africa, and Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment firm, today announced the winners of the 2012 Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship, during the 3rd Annual Gathering of the African Leadership Network in Accra, Ghana.

La Laiterie du Berger won the Outstanding Small and Growing Business Award, a prize of USD 50 000, and a commendation from the African Leadership Network. The company is a Senegalese dairy company that sources and processes milk from semi-nomadic Fulani pastoralists living along the Senegal River. It was established in 2005 when Bagore Bathily realized that almost 90% of the milk consumed in Senegal was imported in powder form – yet more than 4 million people were living as livestock herders and had the ability to produce this commodity.

Bridge International Academies won runner-up for the Outstanding Small and Growing Business Award, also a prize of USD 50 000, and a commendation from the African Leadership Network. In 2007 the company developed a strategy that would allow it to launch a large-scale network of high-quality, ultra low-cost, for-profit private schools. The concept “school-in-a-box” has enabled children to receive high-quality education for $4 per child per month and has the biggest chain of low-cost private schools in Africa that run 80 academies in Kenya with over 25,000 students.
Secure ID won the Mature Business Award, which also came with a Grand Prize of USD 100 000. SecureID is Nigeria's foremost Smart Card manufacturing company. It is the leading Europay, MasterCard and Visa - certified card plant in West Africa, one out of only 6 on the continent and a member of the elite club of only 80 such companies in the world.

Quality Chemicals Industries Ltd. (QCIL) won the Transformational Business Award. The prize is bestowed on a notable business leader who has had a major socio-economic impact in Africa by building a business with revenues greater than USD 50 million. QCIL is a leading sciences and distribution company that locally manufactures anti-malarial and antiretroviral drugs to combat two of Africa’s greatest challenges: malaria and HIV/AIDS.

Veteran South African entrepreneur, Dr. Richard Pelwana Maponya was presented with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award. Dr. Maponya, a visionary African business leader has served as an entrepreneurial icon for several decades and has an enduring legacy of success in Africa. He began his career in the 1940s in apartheid South Africa and was recognized for his impressive seven decade record in entrepreneurship.

“We wish to congratulate these winners for their truly amazing achievements. We are deeply encouraged and inspired by these entrepreneurs’ remarkable accomplishments,” commented Fred Swaniker, CEO and Co-Founder of the African Leadership Network.

“At the African Leadership Network, we are focused on building and promoting leadership that will create prosperity on the continent. These awards shine a light on Africa’s best entrepreneurs, who we hope to foist as role models to inspire the next generation of leaders.”

The Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship was established in 2007 by the Legatum Group to recognize and award business leaders who serve as role models to Africa’s aspiring entrepreneurs and who demonstrate business excellence, innovation and profitability. Now in its sixth year of existence, the Awards have grown into Africa’s most prestigious business and entrepreneurship honours. In July 2012, the African Leadership Network won the exclusive licence to host the Awards from the Legatum Group. Omidyar Network, the philanthropic investment firm dedicated to harnessing the power of markets to create opportunity for people to improve their lives, is sponsoring the awards for the third consecutive year.

“We are delighted to have such a talented group of winners for the 2012 Awards, and congratulate them for their outstanding achievements,” said Malik Fal, Managing Director for Omidyar Network Africa.
“At Omidyar Network, we are deeply committed to building entrepreneurship in Africa, and believe firmly in the power of business to drive positive social impact. As these awards have grown in prestige, we are focused on consolidating them as the premier pan-African platform to showcase top entrepreneurs in Africa, thus deepening entrepreneurship as a path to building Africa’s economy. The caliber of the Award Winners demonstrates the immense potential of entrepreneurs to contribute to Africa’s development.”

The winners of the Awards were selected after a rigorous adjudication process presided over by a panel of eminent business leaders including Kenyan businessman and investor Chris Kirubi; Karim Sadek, Managing Director, Citadel Capital, Egypt; Reeta Roy, president and CEO, MasterCard Foundation; Yvonne Ike, CEO for West Africa of the Renaissance Group; Paul Harris, former CEO, FirstRand Limited and professor, University of Stellenbosch; Adedotun Suleiman, founder and chairman of Arian Capital management in Nigeria; and Divine Ndhlukula, founder and CEO of Securico in Zimbabwe and the overall winner of the 2011 Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship.

The finalists of the 2012 Awards, by category, are:

Outstanding Small and Growing Business Award

La Laiterie du Berger: A Senegalese dairy company that sources and processes milk from semi-nomadic Fulani pastoralists living along the Senegal River
Bloodhound Technology: A South African company that provides real-time personnel tracking and productivity services to leading security companies in the region
Bridge International Academies: The company behind the biggest chain of low-cost private schools in Africa that runs 80 academies in Kenya with over 25,000 students

Mature Business Award

Food Concepts PLC: An integrated food company that pioneered the food court concept in Nigeria, and one of the largest fast food companies in the country
Rancard: A leading African provider of cloud-based software that uses low cost solutions to deliver mobile content from blue-chip clients such as MTV, BBC, Vodafone, MTN and BBC to subscribers
Secure ID Ltd: Nigerian Smart Card manufacturing company that runs the leading Europay, MasterCard and Visa certified card plant in West Africa, one of six such companies in Africa, and 80 worldwide
RLG Communications Ghana Ltd: Ghanaian computer and hand-set manufacturing company, and one of the first indigenous African companies that assembles laptops and mobile phones

Transformational Business Award

Fidelity Bank Ltd: The fastest growing bank in Ghana that has expanded from one branch in 2006, to being the sixth largest bank in Ghana with 45 branches, a customer base of over 300,000 and deposits of more than USD 500 million in just six years of existence as a fully-fledged bank
Export Trading Group: The leading agricultural commodity supply chain operator in East and Southern Africa, with 75 entities, 60 commodity lines, and presence in 26 countries in Africa, and 40 globally
Quality Chemicals Industries Ltd: Leading Ugandan life sciences and distribution company that manufactures triple-combination antiretroviral (ARV) drugs in Sub-Sahara Africa
Societe D’Articles Hyginieques: Tunisia's leading producer of absorbent hygiene products, including baby care, feminine care, incontinence care and related paper products with 45% of the market share in the country
Orbit Chemicals Industries Limited: Leading Kenyan manufacturer and distributor of commercial cleaning chemicals and hygiene solutions

The winner for the Lifetime Achievement Award will be announced during the Awards Gala Ceremony on 11th October in Accra, Ghana.
The Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship was established in 2007 by the Legatum Group to recognize and award business leaders who serve as role models to Africa’s aspiring entrepreneurs and who demonstrate business excellence, innovation and profitability. Now in its sixth year of existence, the Awards have grown into Africa’s most prestigious business and entrepreneurship honours. In July 2012, the African Leadership Network won the exclusive licence to host the Awards from Legatum Group. Omidyar Network, the philanthropic investment firm dedicated to harnessing the power of markets to create opportunity for people to improve their lives, is sponsoring the awards for the third consecutive year.
“We are very pleased to announce the finalists and congratulate each for their remarkable accomplishments,” said Malik Fal, managing director for Omidyar Network Africa. “At Omidyar Network we are deeply committed to strengthening entrepreneurship in Africa and believe firmly in the power of business to drive positive social impact. We are especially encouraged by the growing success of the Awards, which today are a truly Pan-African institution and a key platform for nurturing an ecosystem in which high-impact entrepreneurs on the continent can thrive. The quality, diversity and number of the entrants demonstrate the immense potential of entrepreneurs to contribute to Africa’s development.”
The 12 finalists were determined after a rigorous screening process that focused on the soundness of the business model, financial health, integrity of business practices, and the contribution to socio-economic development. The Awards now enter the final stage where a panel of eight eminent business leaders will choose the winners for the Awards’ four categories. The business leaders include Kenyan businessman and investor Chris Kirubi; Karim Sadek, managing director, Citadel Capital, Egypt; Reeta Roy, president and CEO, MasterCard Foundation; Yvonne Ike, CEO for West Africa of the Renaissance Group; Paul Harris, former CEO, FirstRand Limited and professor, University of Stellenbosch; Adedotun Suleiman, founder and chairman of Arian Capital management in Nigeria; and Divine Ndhlukula, founder and CEO of Securicor in Zimbabwe and the overall winner of the 2011 Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship.

Media contacts

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Email: moliehi@magna-carta.co.za

About African Leadership Network

The African Leadership Network is Africa’s premier network of young, dynamic, and influential new generation leaders in Africa. The organisation’s single mission is to drive Africa’s prosperity. ALN was founded in 2010 by Acha Leke, and Fred Swaniker, and held its inaugural Annual Gathering in the same year in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
ALN’s membership is made up of outstanding new generation African leaders from business, government, the arts and civil society. Current members are drawn from over 45 African countries. The top ten firms run by ALN members employ over 300,000 people across the continent, and generate collective revenues of over USD 20 billion. For more information, please visit www.africanleadershipnetwork.com.

About Omidyar Network

Omidyar Network is a philanthropic investment firm dedicated to harnessing the power of markets to create opportunity for people to improve their lives. Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, the organization invests in and helps scale innovative organizations to catalyze economic and social change. To date, Omidyar Network has committed more than $550 million to for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations that foster economic advancement and encourage individual participation across multiple initiatives, including entrepreneurship, financial inclusion, property rights, government transparency, consumer Internet and mobile. To learn more, visit www.omidyar.com.