The list of the 100 personalities we present in this issue is, in itself, a summary of Africa in 2024 and a projection toward 2025. You will discover our profiles of influential figures transforming the continent. From Finance Ministers, committed to maintaining their countries’ debt sustainability ratios, to financiers whose brilliant initiatives have created thousands of jobs, and CEOs driven by a deeply ingrained appetite for risk. Special mention goes to self-made individuals who have overcome the lack of financial and educational capital with their innate business acumen. These 100 personalities live and work in Africa, navigating daily through administrations that are modernizing but still not fast enough. We pay tribute to these entrepreneurs, often unsupported by their political and economic environments, for whom access to financing remains a challenge.
Certainly, progress is being made, but slowly. Even today, a transfer between Mombasa and Abidjan can take several weeks. There is much talk about the AfCFTA (African Continental Free Trade Area), and its Secretary General travels across the continent as frequently as an airline pilot. But isn’t it time to move from rhetoric to action and ensure that a transaction between Cape Town and Kinshasa no longer has to go through correspondent banks in London or New York, significantly increasing costs? Without strong political will, the single market remains a utopia. The challenges faced by key players like Dangote in supplying his refinery highlight the mismatch between our ecosystems and the development of the private sector.
It seems that African entrepreneurs, upon reaching a certain level of growth, must choose between two options: relocating to access an optimal administrative framework and international payment systems or staying and, burdened by barriers, watching their businesses stagnate. These obstacles manifest in complex procedures, increasing non-tariff barriers, and multiple tax and customs regimes. Faced with these challenges, some major African groups leave the continent, opting for offshore operations and citing a lack of legal security, high taxes compared to Eastern Europe or Asia, and a banking sector more focused on treasury bonds or financing raw material imports than supporting the economy. Banks, for their part, highlight the difficulty in finding companies with certified financial statements.
In short, these 100 personalities have, each in their own way, left their mark on the year. We honor them every day, and particularly on January 27 and 28, 2025, during the sixth edition of the Financial Afrik Awards, to be held at the Sofitel Ivoire Hotel in Abidjan.
BEST AFRICAN FINANCE MINISTERS
- Romuald Wadagni, Finance Minister of the Year (Benin)
- Nadia Alaoui (Morocco)
- Adama Coulibaly (Côte d’Ivoire)
- Vera Daves de Sousa (Angola)
- Louis-Paul Motaze (Cameroon
THE 5 DEALS OF THE YEAR
- Koné Dossongui, CEO of Atlantic Financial Group (AFG Holding), Deal of the Year 2024. On September 12, 2024, just three days after acquiring Access Holding’s network, Atlantic Financial Group (AFG) took control of Société Générale in Guinea.
- Mays Mouissi, Gabonese Minister of Economy and State Holdings. On June 21, 2024, the Gabonese Minister announced the final payment to the American Carlyle fund for the acquisition of shares in Assala Energy.
- Roosevelt Ogbonna, CEO of Access Bank. On November 14, 2024, Access Bank UK, a subsidiary of Access Holdings Plc, signed an agreement with IBL, owner of AfrAsia Bank, to acquire Mauritius’ third-largest bank.
- Ababacar S. Diaw, CEO of Impaxis Securities. In August 2024, the BOAD Titrisation DOLI-P 2024–2031 operation raised CFA 160 billion ($260 million) through the securitization of a portfolio of non-sovereign debts held by BOAD.
- Armando Manuel, Chairman of FSDEA. On August 29, 2024, in Luanda, the Angola Sovereign Wealth Fund (FSDEA), led by Armando Manuel since December 2023, invested $5 million in the Kimbo Fund.
FINANCIER OF THE YEAR
- Sidi Ould Tah, President of BADEA, Financier of the Year
- Serge Ekué, President of BOAD
- Mohamed El Kettani, President of Attijariwafa Bank
- Frannie Leautier, Managing Partner at Southbridge
- Stanislas Zézé, CEO of Bloomfield Investment Corporation
- Felix Edoh Kossi Amenounvé, CEO of BRVM
- Mohamed Bah, CEO of Sunu
- Jean Luc Konan, CEO of Cofina
- Kamal Mokdad, Chairman of the Board of Casablanca Stock Exchange
- Henri-Claude Oyima, CEO of BGFI Holding
ECONOMISTS OF THE YEAR
- Carlos Lopes, Guinea-Bissau, Economist of the Year
- Cédric Achille Mbeng Mezui, Gabon
- Kako Nubukpo, Togo
- Makhtar Diouf, Senegal
- Cheikhna Bounajim Cissé, Mali
CENTRAL BANK GOVERNORS
- Abdellatif Jouahri, Governor of Bank Al-Maghrib
- Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, Governor of BCEAO
- Marie-France Malangu Kabedi Mbuyi, Governor of the Central Bank of Congo
- Lesetja Kganyago, Governor of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB)
- Hassan Abdallah, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt
CEOs OF THE YEAR
- Idrissa Nassa, CEO of Coris Bank International
- Jean Kacou Diagou, Founder of NSIA
- Aliko Dangote, CEO of Dangote Group
- Delphine Traoré, CEO of Sanlam Allianz
- El-Hassana KABA, CEO of MANSA Bank
- Didier Acouetey, Founding President of Groupe AfricSearch
- Ralph Mupita, CEO of MTN Group
- Abdou Souleye Diop, Managing Partner at Forvis Mazars
- Richard Lowe, CEO of Activa Assurances
- Mostafa Terrab, President of OCP
- Denis Chemillier-Gendreau & Géraldine Mermoux, Finactu
- Ylias Akbaraly, CEO of Redland
- Mohamed Kéïta, Chairman of ABD Group
- Mamadou Faye, Director General of BNDE
- Yacoub Sidya, CEO of MSS Security
- Mossadeck Bally, CEO of Azalaï Hotels
- Yvonne Manzi Makolo, CEO of RwandAir
- Patrice Motsepe, CEO of African Rainbow Minerals
- Placide Nkala Basidilwa, Director General of Gecamines
- Leila Bouamatou, CEO of Générale de Banque de Mauritanie (GBM)
- Rachid Hachichi, CEO of Sonatrach Algeria
- Jean Louis Billon, CEO of Groupe Sifca
- Paul Fokam, Afriland First Bank
- Abdeslam Alaoui Smaili, CEO of HPS
- Tony Elumelu, Chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA), Heirs Holdings, and Transcorp Plc
- Khalid Safir, Director General of Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion (Morocco)
- Fani Titi, CEO of Investec Group
SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS, PRIVATE EQUITY FUNDS, AND STOCKBROKERS
- Marc Kamgaing, CEO of Harvest Asset Management
- Kadidiatou Fadika-Coulibaly, CEO of Hudson & Cie
- Mohamed Benchaâboun, CEO of the Mohammed VI Fund for Investment (FM6I)
- Christian Din Dika, CEO of Emrald Securities Services
- Naoufal Bensalah, Founder and President of Africa Bright Group
- Yedau Ogoundele, Director General of CRRH-UEMOA
- René Awambeng, Founder of Premier Investment Holdings Limited
- Roselyne Abé, Director General of EDC Investissement Corporation (EIC)
INTEGRATORS
- Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB)
- George Agyekum Donkor, President of ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID)
- Mamadou Biteye, Executive Secretary of ACBF
- Benedict O. Oramah, President of Afreximbank
- Oulimata Ndiaye, Director of UMOA-Titres
- Abdourahmane Diallo, CEO of FSA
- Badanam Patoki, President of AMF-UMPA
- Abena Amoah, Managing Director of the Ghana Stock Exchange
- Frank Mwiti, CEO of Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE)
- Nezha Hayat, President of AMMC (Moroccan Capital Market Authority)
- Jules Ngankam, CEO of African Guarantee Fund (AGF)
- Abdoulaye Diop, President of the UEMOA Commission
- Manuel Moses, CEO of ATIDI Agency
- Birahim Diouf, General Manager of DC/BR
- Valentin Mbozo’o, Director General of GIMAC
- Admassu Tadesse, CEO of Trade and Development Bank
- Thierno-Habib Hann, CEO of Shelter Afrique
- Ngueto Tiraïna Yambaye, Director General of FAGACE
- Ibrahima Cheikh Diong, Executive Director of the Loss and Damage Response Fund
- Alain Ebobissé, CEO of Africa50
- Latifa El Bouabdellaoui, Director General of the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT)
- Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
- Samaila Zubairu, CEO of Africa Finance Corporation (AFC)
- Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO)
- Wamkele Mene, Secretary General of AfCFTA
- Jude Chiemaka, CEO of the Nigerian Stock Exchange
- Minayegnan Coulibaly, Director General of GIM-UEMOA
LAWYERS
- ADNA: Salimatou Diallo, Safia Fassi-Fihri, Sydney Domoraud, and Foued Bourabiat
- Pascal Agboyibor, Managing Partner at ASAFO & CO
- Jemal Taleb, Diamantis & Partners
- Baba Hady Thiam, Thiam & Associés
- Hicham Naciri, Naciri & Associés Law Firm
