Henley Africa partners as research partner for 10th AABLA Awards

HENLEY Business School Africa has been chosen once again as the research partner for the All Africa Business Leaders Awards. This is a particularly special edition of the awards, because they weren’t held last year because of COVID-19 plus this year will be the 10th time they are presented.

“We are overjoyed to be partnering with AABLA, CNBC Africa and auditors Grant Thornton once again,” said Henley Africa dean and director Jon Foster-Pedley. “As the business school that prides itself on building the leaders who will build the businesses that will build Africa, the All Africa Business Leaders Awards truly are a perfect fit for us.”

Rakesh Wahi, the founder and vice chairman of the ABN Group https://www.cnbcafrica.com/about-cnbc-africa/ established the awards in partnership with CNBC Africa in 2011. The next year they developed into three regional segments: East, West and southern Africa, from which the overall continental category winners would be chosen.

The AABLAs remain the largest single award for business on the continent, honouring both business success and leadership. They specifically recognise corporate game changers for their pursuit of excellence, agility and commitment to innovation. The winners in the different categories exemplify the best in African leadership; strength, ingenuity, empathy, resilience, knowledge and foresight.
The categories this year range from Young Business Leader of the Year to Innovator of the Year; Business Woman of the Year; Industrialist of the Year; Chief Financial Officer of the Year; Global Company of the Year; African Company of the Year; and, Business Leader of the year. There is also the annual award for lifetime achievement and for philanthropist of the year.

The awards are based on nominations from the public which are currently open until the end of April. Submissions must be made on the AABLA website https://aablawards.com/. These are then vetted by the AABLA research committee comprising Henley Africa academics and MBA students and auditors from Grant Thornton.

The committee creates a shortlist for each category which is then sent to the judging panel consisting of senior business and industry executives from across the continent. Their independent scoring is then validated by the chair of the panel as well as Henley Africa’s dean and director and a partner from audit firm Grant Thornton. The finalists are then invited to the gala awards ceremony which will be held this year at Sun City on June 3, when the winners will be announced.

“The last two years have borne witness to incredible innovations and inspired leadership across the continent,” said Foster-Pedley, “as companies adapted and transitioned to scenarios no one had ever envisaged and for which there was no playbook.

“The 10th edition of these highly significant awards is a fitting platform to recognise those business leaders who have survived a true trial by fire; separated from their staff and their markets – and sometime even their factories – by lockdown, but who have emerged victorious and stronger than ever before.

“We need to recognise these leaders and learn from them so that we can encourage others and build the businesses that will build Africa by creating jobs and prosperity for the communities in which they operate,” Foster-Pedley said.