25 impactful African business leaders

1. Richard Arlove, CEO, Abax Services - Finance - Mauritius

2. Mossadeck Bally, CEO, Azalaï Hotels Group (AHG) - Real estate - Niger

3. Bechir Ben Yahmed, CEO, Jeune Afrique Group - Media - Tunisia

4. Madeleine Berre, Managing Partner, Deloitte Gabon, President, Gabon Employers’ Confederation (CPG) - Consulting / Institution - Gabon

“More than ever in Africa, we are in search of leaders!”

Madeleine Berre shared with us her vision on the role of women in the African business world and improvements to be made, as well as the qualities required to be a leader in this evolving landscape. Insights.

Leaders League. What are the inherent qualities of a leader?
Madeleine Berre. Setting an example is, in my opinion, the primordial quality of a leader, who must be able to mobilize people in the right direction. A leader must demonstrate willingness and determination, adapt himself or herself and build confidence. When a leader is confident, he or she brings confidence to the whole team. It is necessary to possess these qualities to have a positive influence in any environment. More than ever in Africa, we are in search of leaders with such qualities!

Leaders League. You are the first woman to be elected as head of the Gabon Employers’ Confederation. What is the place of women in today’s African business world?
M. B. My appointment arouses attention and emphasizes the role and place of women in the African business world. In French-speaking Africa, either in Gabon, Ivory Coast or Senegal, women are very active and increasingly promoted to some managerial positions - although they are not often very visible. This is certainly a cultural phenomenon. Moreover, it seems that the role of women is somewhat similar in the African Anglophone world. Women need to have some role models that will allow them not to feel at risk, especially considering the fact that it is not easy to be a role model or a leader while maintaining a balance with family and personal life.

5. Mohamed Bridaa, Managing Director, Microsoft Tunisia - Telecom / IT - Tunisia

6. Fatiha Charradi, CEO, OCP Innovation Fund for Agriculture - Agribusiness / Finance - Morocco

7. Marlon Chigwende, Managing Director and co-head of the Sub-Saharan Africa buyout advisory team, Carlyle Group - Finance - Zimbabwe

8. Jean Kacou Diagou, CEO, Nouvelle Société Interafricaine d'Assurance (NSIA) - Bank Insurance - Ivory Coast

9. Makhtar Diop, Vice President for Africa, World Bank - Bank Insurance - Senegal

10. Gervais Koffi Djondo, co-founder, Ecobank, President of honour, ASKY Airlines Bank - Insurance / Transportation - Togo

11. Alassane Doumbia, Vice President, Sifca - Agribusiness - Ivory Coast

12. Jean-Louis Ekra, President, African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) - Bank Insurance - Ivory Coast

13. Tony Elumelu, President, Heirs Holdings - Finance - Nigeria

14. Hicham El Amrani, Secretary-General, Confederation of African Football - Sports - Morocco

15. Mohamed El Kettani, CEO, Attijariwafa Bank - Bank Insurance - Morocco

16. Ken Etete, CEO, Century Group - Energy / Natural resources - Nigeria

17. Hadeel Ibrahim, founding Executive Director, Mo Ibrahim Foundation - Philanthropy - Sudan

18. Donald Kaberuka, President, African Development Bank (BAD) - Bank Insurance / Institution - Rwanda

19. Delphine Maidou, CEO, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) Africa Bank - Insurance - Burkina Faso

20. Patrice Motsepe, President, African Rainbow Minerals Limited - Energy / Natural resources - South Africa

21. Alioune Ndiaye, Managing Director, Sonatel - Telecom / IT - Senegal

22. Sahbi Othmani, Director, NCA-Rouiba - Consumer goods - Algeria

23. Jean-Marc Savi de Tové, Associate Director, Cauris Management - Finance - Togo

24. Fred Swaniker, President, African Leadership Academy - Culture - Ghana

“In a country where institutions are weak, a single leader can make a real difference”

Regularly cited as one of the youngest Africans of great influence, and nominated as a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum, the Ghanaian serial entrepreneur Fred Swaniker created the African Leadership Academy in 2008. His ambition? Cultivate and accompany 6,000 leaders who will transform the continent within fifty years, thanks to this African “Ivy League”.

Barack Obama is perhaps the person who best explains the significance of this academy: “Fred [...] uses his expertise to help other young Africans develop their leadership skills so that they can come back and use those skills to contribute to their communities starting businesses and creating jobs.” Composed of students from across the continent, the school is located on the outskirts of Johannesburg.

“What will enable Africa to prosper?” It is by asking this question and in discovering that companies thrive through innovative ideas that the African Leadership Academy was born. It is therefore necessary to facilitate the dissemination of these ideas among the leaders who will then relay them.

Before embarking on the adventure of forming Africa’s future leaders, Fred Swaniker was notably consultant at McKinsey & Company and COO of Synexa Life Sciences, a biotechnology company. Born in 1976, he spent his childhood in Botswana, Gambia and Zimbabwe, and accomplished his studies in the USA with an MBA degree at Stanford. This entrepreneur also founded the African Leadership Network, the Global Leadership Adventures and the Africa Advisory Group.

25. Arthur Zang, inventor and CEO, Himore Medical Equipments - Health - Cameroon

Authors of the French article: Elodie Sigaux and André Franck Ahoyo

Translator: Jeanne Yizhen Yin

Photo: @dirkb86

This article is dedicated to our fortnightly newsletter “Leaders Wisdom Journal”. To Subscribe.

Other articles of the same issue:
Carlos Tavares (PSA): “I don't believe in the concept of an isolated, charismatic leader”
Yuanqing Yang (Lenovo): discreet speaker, ambitious doer
Shackleton’s Way: Leadership Lessons from the Great Antarctic Explorer
Wisdom on courage