Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank, AfDB, is confirmed to present the Keynote address during the 8^th edition of the African Leadership Magazine (http://AfricanLeadership.co.uk) Persons of the Year event. The event with the theme: Africa for Africans – Exploring the Gains of a Connected Continent, is billed to hold on the 28^th- 29^th February 2020, in Johannesburg, South Africa.

He shall also be officially conferred with the award of African of the Year 2019 during the event which is set to host over 200 leading African political, business and diplomatic leaders.

Dr Adesina, Nigeria’s former minister of Agriculture, largely responsible for setting the stage for the country’s agro-revolution, emerged winner in the polls for the African Leadership Magazine Persons of the Year Awards 2019, with over 60% of the total votes/submissions for this category.

He was elected 8^th President of the African Development Bank in 2015 and credited with several firsts and major development milestones in the history of the Bank. Dr Akinwumi Adesina has been a leader in agricultural innovation space in Africa for over 30 years, bringing great improvement to Africa’s food security, and positioning a robust agribusiness model, thereby contributing to Africa’s economic growth story.

The publisher, Dr Ken Giami, who was at the Bank’s headquarters in Abidjan recently to meet with the President and formally invite him to the presentation ceremonies, stated that, “This year, the event will focus on the following broad themes, - 'Driving Foreign Investments into Africa, as well as Africa to Africa Investments; jobs & wealth creation; promotion of sustainable peace & development; and the promotion of Africa's image globally.” The event presents a unique opportunity for delegates to contribute to the conversations towards the onerous task of advancing Africa’s future – a responsibility that African Leadership has continued to drive over last 10 years.

The African Leadership Magazine Persons of the Year Awards is the continent’s premier vote-based endorsement and selection process for the Africans who are contributing towards promoting the continent and bolstering positively Africa’s image. The event which is in its 8th year, has become a referendum of some sorts by Africans on purposeful leadership in the continent. A shortlist of nominees are selected from results gathered via a Call for nomination - traditionally promoted via online and offline campaigns across the continent, and globally. The call for nomination and subsequent selection of Africans with the largest number of entries in 7 categories, is followed by a poll on the ALM website: http://bit.ly/2S5oVEJ and our social media platforms – through which the winners emerge.

The keenly contested poll attracted over 300,000 entries and Winners shall be decorated and presented with the instruments of honour on the 29th February 2019 in Johannesburg, South Africa, at a colourful ceremony that will attract a wide spectrum of African policy, diplomatic and business leaders. The winners were unveiled by the Publisher of the Magazine Dr. Ken Giami, at the UK Head Office of the group, after the awards committee working with the editorial team concluded the collation of entries.

Expected to attend the event are over 200 business, political and diplomatic leaders from the continent. Other winners to be honoured as winners are:

African Female Leader of the Year 2019: 
Rawya Mansour, Founder, RAMSCO Company - Winner

ALM Person of the Year 2019-Educational Development
Dr. Yusuf Karodia, Founder, Regent Business School and MANCOSA - Winner

ALM Person of the Year 2019 - Employment Generation
Ashish Thakkar, CEO, Mara Phone - Winner

ALM Person of the Year 2019 – Political Leadership
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, President of Egypt - Winner

ALM Person of the Year 2019 – Philanthropy & Charitable Contributions to Society
Femi Otedola, Founder, Femi Otedola Foundation - Winner

ALM Young Person of the Year 2019
Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, Wizkid, Music Artist - Winner 

The African Leadership Magazine Persons of the Year Awards, which has become the leading vote-based third-party endorsement in the continent, recorded an upsurge of over 45% votes from Africans within and the Diaspora this year.