President Buhari’s Aides Tolu Ogunlesi And Dangote’s Anthony Chiejina Among Global Judges For Journalism Prize In Africa

By Josephine Akaerr

APO Group, the leading pan-African communications and business consultancy, has announced the jury for the prestigious APO Group African Women in Media Award 2020. The Award recognizes, celebrates and empowers African women in the media who support female entrepreneurship throughout the continent.  

This is the largest and most influential panel of judges ever assembled for an African media award, and it reflects the importance of recognizing gender equality in business and the media.

APO Group has brought together 100 luminaries, with global icons such as Naomi Campbell joined by senior executives from every major industry on the continent, from Microsoft to Dangote; Twitter to Coca-Cola; and Harley-Davidson to LEGO!

Here is a full list of the 100 judges :

• Secretary-General of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Fatma Samoura
• Senior Vice President and Head of Sub-Saharan Africa of Visa, Aïda Diarra
• Model, actress, businesswoman, Naomi Campbell
• Regional Communications Director, Middle East and Africa of Microsoft, Aydan Olcer
• Special assistant on Digital and New Media to Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, Tolu Ogunlesi
• Head of Communications, Sub-Saharan Africa of Facebook, Kezia Anim-Addo
• Head of Communications and Public Affairs, EMEA, of YouTube, Zayna Aston
• Chief Corporate Communications Officer of Dangote Group, Anthony Chiejina
• Head of Public Policy Sub-Saharan Africa of Twitter, Emmanuel Lubanzadio
• Head of Communication Sub Saharan Africa of Uber, Samantha Fuller
• Head of Communications of Coca-Cola Africa, Camilla Osborne
• Chairman Africa of McKinsey & Company, Acha Leke
• Director, Marketing and Communications, Sub-Saharan Africa of MasterCard, Ifeoma Dozie,
• Senior Advisor for International Programs of the Jack Ma Foundation, Jason Pau
• Regional Marketing Manager of Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Michael Carney
• Head of Marketing Middle East and Africa of LEGO Group, Urszula Bieganska
• Corporate Communications and Marketing Services Director, Africa, Middle East and Turkey of Canon, Mai Youssef
• Vice-President of the NBA, and President of the Basketball Africa League, Amadou Gallo Fall
• Chief Executive Officer Middle East and Africa of DHL Global Forwarding, Amadou Diallo
• Head of Modern and Contemporary African Art of Sotheby’s, Hannah O’Leary
• Head of Public Affairs and Communications of Mastercard Foundation, Julie Gichuru
• Head of Corporate Communications, Public Affairs and CSR of L’Oréal South Africa, Helen Da Fonseca
• Communications Lead – North, East and West Africa of IBM, Louise W. Wanjohi
• Director, Gender, Women and Civil Society of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) Vanessa M. Moungar
• Global Marketing Manager of Brussels Airlines, Carole Van Cauter
• Head of Marketing – South Africa and Sub Sahara Africa of Levi Strauss & Co., Candace Gilowey
• Head of Communications of KPMG South Africa, Dudu Ndlovu
• Director of Public Relations and Communications – Middle East and Africa of Accor, Sarah Fernandez
• Chief Executive Officer of Merck Foundation, Dr. Rasha Kelej
• Executive Head: Group Media Relations and Spokesperson of Vodacom, Byron Kennedy
• Head of Communications of World Rugby, Dominic Rumbles
• Chief Communications and Public Affairs Officer of GE Africa, Patricia Obozuwa
• Director Development East Africa of Hilton Worldwide, Samantha Muna
• Head of Africa of MoneyGram International, John Gely
• Head of Communications, Sub-Saharan Africa of Novartis, Beatrice Gachenge
• Senior Advisor of Getty Images, Lee Martin
• Senior Area Director, Marketing and Communications, Middle East and Africa of Radisson Hotel Group, Stephanie Aboujaoude
• Public Relations and Communications lead for Africa of Cisco, Sthe Shabangu
• Executive Vice President Global Sales, Services and Marketing of Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, Rukmini Glanard
• Africa and Israel Communications of Motorola Solutions, Maor Aharoni
• Executive: Corporate Affairs of MTN South Africa, Jacqui O’Sullivan
• Head of Communications and Public Affairs Africa of Siemens Gamesa, Sonia Adnane
• Africa Communications Director of Tetra Pak, Marwa Gomaa
• Head of Communications of OCP Africa, Abdellah Ghali
• Communications Director, Africa and Middle East of Sage, Christa Botha
• Group Head, Corporate Communications, and Chief of Staff to the Group CEO of Ecobank, Adenike Laoye
• Managing Partner of Mazars Audit and Consulting, Abdou Diop
• Head of Communications and External Relations, Middle East and Africa of DP World, Andre Martin
• CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce in South Africa, Angela Russell
• Founder and CEO of VC4A, Ben White
• Group Head, Corporate Communications of United Bank for Africa, Bola Atta
• Vice President, Corporate Communications and CSR of Airtel Africa, Michael Okwiri
• Managing Director, Middle East and Africa of Ingenico Group, Christian Bwakira
• Head of Global Communications of CARE International, Clare Spurrell
• Media Relations Specialist of Rotary International, Claudia Brunner
• General Manager of Rugby Africa, Coralie van den Berg
• Marketing and Communications Manager, Africa and Middle East of CNH Industrial, Sue Musunga Chuzu
• President and Founder of AfricSearch Group, Didier Acouetey
• Director for Africa and Middle East of Yale University, Eddie Mandhry
• Head Brand and Communications Middle East & Africa at Sodexo, Christina D’Souza
• President of the Portuguese Diaspora Council, Filipe de Botton
• President and CEO of the Corporate Council on Africa , Florizelle Liser
• Head, Corporate Communications of Lafarge Africa, Florizelle Liser
• Director of Information and Communication of the African Union, Leslie Richer
• President of the International Sports Press Association, AIPS, Giovanni “Gianni” Merlo
• Head of Marketing and Corporate Affairs – Africa of Puma Energy , Itumeleng Matlaila
• Francophone Africa government and corporate advisory lead of the United Nations Capital Development Fund, Jean Pascal Mvondo
• CEO of Invest Africa, Karen Taylor
• Head of Group Communications of AFD – Agence Française de Développement, Mathilde Schneider
• Head: Africa and International Media Relations of Standard Bank, Kate Johns
• Managing Director, Sub-Sahara Africa, Retail Intelligence of Nielsen, Kelly Arnold
• General Manager of Roche Morocco, Sanaa Sayag
• CEO of Dedalus Global, Leland Rice
• Head of Marketing and Communications – South Africa of Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS), Lesiba Sethoga
• Marketing and Communications Manager – East, Central and Southern Africa of DHL Africa, Lilian Kanyi Mwangi
• Head of Communications and Advocacy Services, Africa of BASF, Linda Brow
• Chief Strategy and Compliance Officer of Rwanda Development Board, Louise Kanyonga
• Founder of Lux Afrique, Alexander Amosu
• Africa Programme Manager of the International Energy Agency, Maximilian Jarret
• Minister of Information and Communications of Sierra Leone, Mohamed Rahman Swaray
• Migration Mobility Dialogue Senior Coordinator of the International Centre for Migration Policy Development, Monica Zanette
• Ag. Head of Communications of the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD), Mwanja Ng’anjo
• Communication and CSR Director of CFAO, Nafissatou Dia
• Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber, NJ Ayuk
• Co-founder, Chairman and CEO of TRACE, Olivier Laouchez
• Director of Communications of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, Olly Cann
• Group Head, Corporate Communication of Guaranty Trust Bank , Oyinade Adegite
• Co-Founder of New African Capital Partners, former Executive Director of The World Bank, Paulo Gomes
• Managing Director MEA of Vertiv Co, Pierre Havenga
• CEO of Vivendi Sports, Robins Tchale Watchou
• Head of Communications and Marketing, Africa of the World Wildlife Fund, Rose Thuo
• Director of Commercial Partnerships of Opera, Sarah Utermark
• Senior Communications Officer of the African Trade Insurance Agency, Sherry Kennedy
• Communications Manager – Africa of AGCO Corporation, Tshepang Motsekuoa
• Executive Director of the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), Sanjeev Gupta
• Founder and CEO of R-Squared Agency, Stéphane Rogovsky
• CEO and Founder of the Shared Value Africa Initiative, Tiekie Barnard
• Former Director of Communication and External Relations of the African Development Bank Group, Victor Oladokun
• Deputy General Manager of Loukil Group, Walid Loukil
• CEO of ENGIE Africa, Yoven Moorooven
• Global Chairman of Fairfax Africa Fund, Zemedeneh Negatu
• Winner of the 2020 APO Group African Women in Media Award, Nila Yasmin
• Founder and chairman of APO Group, Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard    

“I want to thank all the judges for devoting their time and energy to the APO Group African Women in Media Award,” said Founder and Chairman of APO Group, Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard. “I’ve never seen a judging panel of this quality before, and we are honored that every member shares our vision for women empowerment and entrepreneurship. Their passion and enthusiasm has helped make this award the biggest of its kind in Africa.”

The APO Group African Women in Media Award is part of APO Group’s commitment to supporting the development of journalism on the continent.

The award is open to African female journalists whose stories were broadcast or published between 1st January and 31st October 2020. The stories are judged on content, writing, analysis, creativity, human interest and community impact.

The judges will be asked to select the winning journalist, who will then be announced at the 6th Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum’s (AWIEF) Virtual Conference and Awards, hosted from 2-3 December 2020, with the theme ‘Reimagining Business & Rebuilding Better.’

AWIEF is a prestigious annual event that sees global thought leaders, industry experts, policymakers, academics, development organizations and investors gather to connect, network, share, collaborate and transact in a combined effort to boost Africa’s entrepreneurship ecosystem for women.