The annual awards also described as the ‘Africa’s Business Oscars’ are meant to salute and reward a wide range of companies, governments, NGOs and individuals who have made a significant impact on Africa’s development.
The emphasis is laid on private sector development and attracting foreign direct investment.
Some of the companies and individuals short-listed this year are Celtel, Unilever, PricewaterhouseCoopers, European Investment Bank - Berg Water Project, Tanzania Investment Centre, GlaxoSmithKline, Standard Chartered Group, Chevron - Nigeria, Eskom, Barclays, Nedbank, Microsoft - Pathfinder Programme, BAT Nigeria Foundation, Virgin Nigeria, Nestle, Oracle, Suzanne Ravenell - CEO Beyond Outsourcing, Gugu Moloi - CEO Umgeni Water, Dr Ndi Okereke Oniyude - CEO, Nigeria Stock Exchange and Dr Runa N Alam, President and CEO Kingdom Zephyr Africa Management.
The criteria used to short-list IFSC include measures to adopt smart regulation in poverty reduction and economic growth policies - creation of a “trading zone” to encourage business into and within Botswana, commitment to SME development through the work of Enterprise Banking, which is an IFSC accredited bank operating in the SME sector in various African countries.
The other criteria used is how the IFSC promoted private sector views in the development of policy and a dialogue between government and business - on going dialogue with the Botswana tax authorities to find policies to incentives business through improved tax regimes.
The annual awards attract market leaders from across Africa and present a great opportunity for business people and organisations to gain recognition for their achievements among peers and clients. They were first held last year in Senegal.
The award-giving ceremony will take place on the evening of the Economist Conferences Fourth Business Roundtable with the Government of South Africa.
Last year’s winners include Barclays Africa, Sir Richard Branson (Virgin), the Shell Foundation, Diageo Africa, Standard Bank, Pfizer, Actis, Dr Mohammed Ibrahim (Celtel), Dr Konji Sebati, (Pfizer), Tanzania Investment Centre, APIX Senegal, Bannock Consulting Entebbe Municipality (Uganda), Municipal Infrastructure Investment Unit (South Africa).
