The December issue of New African magazine, the pan-African news magazine published by media and communications group IC Publications, has once again featured as its cover story the list of Most Influential Africans, including Uganda’s Musician Bobi Wine aka Robert Kyagulanyi, the Kyadondo East Member of Parliament.
Business leaders dominate this year’s listing with 28 inclusions. The list is broken down into eight categories including Arts and Culture, which has 18 entries, and Politics and Public Office which has 15 entries.
English speaking countries dominate this year’s listing, representing 65 percent of all entries.
Making the list is the recent Nobel Peace Prize winner, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, as well as Alaa Salah, the 22 year-old Sudanese protester now referred to as Lady Liberty, a student of architectural engineering who became the face of the people’s revolution in Sudan that brought down Omar Al-Bashir.
Two sporting heroes also make this year’s feature, Siya Kolisi, the first black captain of South Africa’s national rugby team, who were crowned world champions in November, and, unsurprisingly, Kenyan world record breaker Eliud Kipchoge, the marathon runner.
The list also includes African celebrities like Trevor Noah, Burna Boy, Lupit Nyong’o and several others. Businessman Aliko Dangote, African Development Bank President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, among others feature on the list.
In the opening editorial note, the magazine calls this another vintage year and reminds us that events in Sudan and Algeria have shown that citizens have once again asserted their rights and put leaders elsewhere on notice that the people remain masters of their fate. The list, it argues, shows that “Africa is full of talent. What is more, this talent can and does travel – whether it takes the form of acting in blockbusters or fronting TV shows or winning literary awards – African talent is rocking the world.”
Nigerians once again dominate this year’s list with 27 entries, followed by South Africa and Ghana, both with 9 entries. Business Leader category leads with 28 entries. 42 women on this year’s list, down from 50 last year.
Mid last month, Bobi Wine made it to the ‘TIME 100 Next’ list of the world’s most influential people. ‘TIME 100 Next’ is a new list, part of an ongoing expansion of the flagship ‘TIME 100 franchise’—that spotlights 100 rising stars who are shaping the future of business, entertainment, sports, politics, science, health and more.
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