Two Nigerian companies have won awards at the ongoing Africa CEO forum in Kigali. They are Access Bank and Kobo 360. According to the Forum Nigeria’s logistics company, Kobo 360, was named ‘The Disrupter of the Year’ for registering immediate and significant success in a sector where costs are higher in Africa than anywhere else in the world. The awards wouldn’t have ended without recognition of gender and Access Bank was the victor, going home with the ‘Gender Leader’ award. The emancipation of women forms the backbone of the Bank’s strategy.

Morocco’s Mohamed el Kettani emerged the 2019 African CEO of the year at the 7th edition of the Africa CEO Forum, which is taking place in Kigali. Mohamed el Kettani has invested more than $1 billion on the continent over the past seven year. He is a champion of south- south cooperation and is behind the pan-African development of Morocco’s leading bank, Attijariwafa Bank. Ethiopian Airlines won the accolade of ‘African Champion of the year’ for their intra-african partnerships, reaching 40 countries on the continent. The award was received by the airline’s CEO, Tewolde Gebremariam. “I would like to start by thanking everyone who has supported us after the tragic accident that happened to us two weeks ago. We promise to keep up the good work for the good of the African continent,” Gebremariam said in his acceptance speech.

Other winners at the Africa CEO Summit are Engie Africa, beating other international companies to the ‘International Company of the year’ award. Engie Africa was recognised for having three executive board members coming from Africa and having a significant impact on local communities in one of the most important sectors for Africa’s future. In their 7th year in a row, the 2019 Africa CEO Awards took place in Kigali, Rwanda, recognising outstanding performance of business leaders, companies and investors in Africa.