During this time when most African countries are celebrating their sixtieth year of independence, our blog offers you a partial assessment that focuses on the African heroes who have played or who continue to play an important role in the evolution of their continent.
Whether they are singers in Benin, businessmen in Nigeria, politicians in Ghana, or even influential bloggers, these personalities continue to change their content through their actions, their charisma, and their powerful words. Discover with us three African heroes who are intervening, so far successfully, in the advancement of the continent.
Aliko Dangote (Nigeria): The businessman with a golden heart
It is impossible not to mention the 62-years-old magnate when it comes to development in Africa. With a personal fortune estimated at more than 10 billion dollars, we can say that Aliko Dangote, considered as the 121st fortune in the world and the richest man in Africa, according to the latest ranking of the international press group Bloomberg, have all the resources to support his native continent.
Dreaming of a prosperous Africa, the rich man does not hesitate to use his money to accelerate the development of it by creating numerous jobs. But that’s not all.
The cement industry and food magnate’s latest projects are the establishment of Africa’s largest fertilizer factory: Dangote Fertilizer. Based in Lekki, Nigeria, the factory will cost the businessman no less than $ 2 billion but will boost Africa’s agricultural sector.
In 2018, Aliko Dangote also announced in a tweet the creation of a business school whose objective would be to prepare the next generation of tomorrow. According to the billionaire, “entrepreneurial studies are training courses that strengthen the fight against poverty”. No wonder then to see him spend 3.3 million dollars for the construction of the Dangote Business School, inaugurated on March 2.
Dangote also has a future project, which is the creation of an oil refinery worth 15 billion. According to the cement and food magnate, the oil refinery will be the largest in Africa and this will play a major role in the fall of the African oil prices.
Angelique Kidjo (Benin) : A committed diva
The fourth winner of a Grammy award and holder of numerous musical awards, Angelique Kidjo is one of the music legends we do not need to introduce anymore. Born on July 14, 1960 in Ouidah, a small port town in Benin, the 60-year-old diva is a passionate whose colorful works continue to influence the world.
Already a professional singer at 20, Angelique Kidjo began her career in 1980 with a first album called ‘’Pretty’’. Inspired by her country’s traditional sounds as well as some jazz and blues notes, the diva’s first album was a resounding success, which quickly propelled her to the top of the industry. Through other albums such as ‘’Ewa Ka djo’’, ‘’Parakou’’, or even ‘’Logozo’’ who receives many awards including RFI-SACEM, the talents singer established herself as an international artist and the undisputed queen of Afro-pop music.
Very involved in the humanitarian fight, the Beninese singer does not hesitate to use her notoriety to engage herself in multiple projects such as the African women education or to fight against excision and forced minors marriage in Africa. The hyperactive woman will sooner attract the attention of UNICEF, which will make her it’s Ambassador since 2002.
Thanks to her new Unicef Ambassador status and her Batonga Foundation, the outspoken diva goes from country to country does to challenge the highest African dignitaries on the causes she defends Moreover, the talentuous diva encouraged them to change the lives of thousands of young girls in Africa with her. The singer will manage to collect no less than 10,000 euros, which she will use to grant scholarships to more than 1,200 girls.
Still, between two planes, Angelique Kidjo, classified by The Guardian as one of the most influential personalities in the world, follow steps of her idol Myriam Makéba and to this day represents one of the fierce Amazons in the protection of minors in Africa.
Nana Akufo-Addo (Ghana): The Pan-Africanist President
While he is the leader of his native country Ghana, Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo is also a Pan-Africanist whose scathing remarks and meaningful actions never fail to inspire a change of mindset in Africa.
Born into the Ghanaian aristocracy (his father is from one of the richest families in the country, and his mother is of royal lineage), President Nana Akufo-Addo is a prominent lawyer who exercised in Britain. . “Extremely methodical and structured” according to a Togolese minister, the Ghanaian president understood very early that Africa must make itself independent of any financial aid coming from Europe.
No wonder then to see Nana Akufo-Addo publicly asserting his Pan-Africanist views. On November 30, 2017 for example, when a Ghanaian journalist asked President Macron visiting Accra if France intends to extend its partnership outside its colonies, President Nana Akufo-Addo takes the floor and improvises a famous 9-minutes response in which he declares,
“IT IS TIME FOR AFRICANS TO FINANCE THEIR EXPENDITURES ON HEALTH AND EDUCATION”. The Head of the nation also added, “IT IS URGENT TO BREAK FROM OUR MIND OF ETERNAL ASSISTS AND BEGGARS”.
the statement, the Head of State would repeat it so many times, that he becomes, after Kwame Nkrumah, the new face of Pan-Africanism in Africa; pushes other leaders to start thinking for themselves.
To uphold his word, the Pan-African President said he wanted to withdraw Ghana from the IMF, an aid program for poor African countries. This declaration of the father of the Ghanaian nation to go beyond the logic of aid and become a true economic partner will find a favorable echo in Bern, Switzerland, where the Head of State saw himself unrolling a red carpet, a welcome that the country had not reserved for an African leader for more than 60 years.
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