Africa has continued to produce many great and notable leaders. Many of them have come and gone, but their memories live on. Many of these great men and women of African descent who hold public office are still with us, growing stronger in their various positions of leadership. We can’t help but mention and praise these influential African leaders. According to New African Magazine In this context, the influence does not only affect the positive aspect, but also the negative aspect.
These heroes and heroines (or villains) have in one way or another made Africa better known through the various notable movements and achievements that have moved Africa either forward or backward. But regardless, a greater number of them deserve recognition as their exploits greatly benefited the well-being of Africa.
1. Abdel Fattah El-sisi – Egyptian President
Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil El-Sisi, born November 19, 1954 is the sixth and current President of Egypt and has been in office since June 8, 2014. He resigned from the military on March 26, 2014 to run for president. Among other notable achievements is Abdel’s fight against terrorism, which threatens the security and stability of the Arab world. After overthrowing former President Mohamed Morsi, he managed to stop the outbreak of civil war in Egypt. Egypt’s new president is driving much-needed economic reforms in the country and is viewed by the West as a moderate in the region. He was also ranked 51st in the 2014 Forbes list of the world’s most outstanding people.
2. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf – Liberian President
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (born October 29, 1938) is the 24th and current President of Liberia. Sirleaf is the first elected female President in Africa and around the world. She took over as President of Liberia in 2006 and was re-elected in 2011. She is known for her peaceful, non-violent struggle for women’s rights and safety. For this reason she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011.
3. Kofi Atta Annan – Ghanaian diplomat
I don’t need to say much about the popular Kofi AttaAnnan, a man who left an indelible mark on African and world history. Kofi is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1997 to December 2006. On the evening of December 13, 1996, Annan was appointed Secretary-General of the United Nations, making him the first black African to hold the post. His achievements that put him on this list are too numerous to mention. Annan and the United Nations jointly received the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize “for their work for a better organized and more peaceful world. After the terrorist attacks against the United States in September 2001, he played a key role in urging the General Assembly and the Security Council to take counter-terrorism measures. He is now 77 years old.
4. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala – Minister of Finance of Nigeria
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is known worldwideThe Nigerian economist is best known for her two terms as Minister of Finance of Nigeria and for her work at the World Bank, including several years as one of its Executive Directors (October 2007 – July 2011). In 2006 she briefly held the position of Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs. She is 61 years old.
Okonjo-Iweala has helped the country’s economy, the largest in Africa, growing at an average of 6% (per year) over three years. She is credited with developing reform programs that helped improve government transparency and stabilize the economy. She is the first woman to serve as finance minister and foreign minister in the West African country with a GDP of $502 billion. She was named the 44th and 48th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
5. Uhuru Kenyatta – President of Kenya
Uhuru Kenyatta is the fourth and current President of Kenya and has been in office since April 9, 2013. He was born on October 26, 1961. Given the current criminal charges against President Uhuru, for which he is yet to stand trial, one would conclude that he should not have made this list. and even if he does, it shouldn’t be good news. On the contrary, he has emerged as one of Africa’s most influential leaders through the unique combination of political shrewdness and the power of a suave PR machine to eclipse his pending international crimes trial in The Hague.
Mr Kenyatta’s exclusive list for successfully applying a shrewd political strategy that has turned Africa against the International Criminal Court (ICC) and away from the serious crimes he is alleged to have committed in Kenya’s 2007 elections. The report adds that Mr Kenyatta “reframed his case as being about the dignity and sovereignty of Kenya and more generally Africa, rather than the political violence that followed the contentious 2007 elections”.
6. Obiageli Ezekwesili – Nigerian activist
Obiageli Ezekwesili is a Nigerian Chartered Accountant, a 52-year-old woman with no bad reputation. She has held the positions of Nigerian Minister of Solid Resources and Minister of Education respectively. Ezekwesili, one of the founders of Transparency International, which served as one of the pioneers of the global anti-corruption agency based in Berlin, Germany, spoke with her voice for those who could not campaign “#BringbackOurGirls” – a campaign of which she is the founder . It is her tireless and selfless commitment to the recovery of over 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by the Nigerian militant group – Boko Haram – that has been largely recognized by New African Magazine. The magazine noted
7. Idriss Déby – Chadian politician
General Idriss Déby Itno is a Chadian politician who has been President of Chad since 1990. He entered the position at the age of 38 and is now 63 years old. President Idriss has faced a number of contradictions from rebels since his reign, but he never allows this to spoil his ambitions as a long-term regional security official, intensified counter-terrorism cooperation with France and the United States, and a prominent military and military plays mediator role in Boko Haram conflict.
8. Salva Kiir – South Sudanese President
Although Salva Kiir has gained a lot of prominence in recent times after founding his new state of South Sudan, but the fame that has made him one of Africa’s most influential leaders isn’t entirely positive. It was indeed the dusty arguments and conflicts he had with his former vice president Riek Machar that carried his fame across borders. According to New African Magazine: President Salva Kiir and his former Vice President Riek Machar have had a major impact in their country this year – but not in a positive way State at Independence was set. Their political dispute has developed into an ethnicized conflict, mainly between the Dinka and the Nuer. 1.5 million South Sudanese are internally displaced and thousands have been killed. With their representatives in the region’s capitals taking part in negotiations, the couple not only dwarfs their country’s interests today, but also complicates the task of building a sustainable state and society for the future. The two men have enough power to end the conflict. If only they would choose to exercise it”. build a sustainable state and society for the future. The two men have enough power to end the conflict. If only they would choose to exercise it”. build a sustainable state and society for the future. The two men have enough power to end the conflict. If only they would choose to exercise it”.
9. Desmond Tutu – Social rights activist in South Africa
Desmond Tutu is a South African spirit, religious leader, and social activist (an outspoken critic of apartheid). He is a retired Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town and a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. He was the first black Archbishop of Cape Town and Bishop of the Church of the Province of South Africa (now the Anglican Church of Southern Africa). Desmond is a member of the Elders, a group of independent leaders brought together by Nelson Mandela who advocate for peace, justice and human rights. His various areas of activity and awards include: campaign against poverty, unilateralism, HIV, AIDS and tuberculosis; the “Pacem in Terris” award, the “Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award”, the “Sydney Peace Prize”, the “
10. Julius Malema – South African politician
Julius Sello Malema is the leader of the business Freedom Fighters, a South African political party he founded in July 2013. He previously served as President of the African National Congress Youth League from 2008 to 2012. Malema was a member of the ANC until his expulsion from the party in April 2012. He occupies a particularly controversial position in South African public and political life, having risen to prominence through his endorsement of the President of the African National Congress and later the President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma. He has been described as South Africa’s “future leader” by both Zuma and the Prime Minister of Limpopo Province. With less than a year to go, the EFF won more than six percent of the vote in last year’s 2014 election. Julius is remarkably the youngest on this list; He was born on March 3, 1981.
11. Yoweri Museveni – Ugandan President
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who is quoted for his anti-ICC stance and continued military interventions in the region’s conflicts, also made the list alongside South African politician Julius Malema. Yoweri has been President of Uganda since 1986. Given the various charges against this old master, particularly those from his subjects, he would not have made this list, but this is what The New Times Magazine has to say about him:
Yoweri Museveni has taken the spotlight this year, again criticizing the International Criminal Court as an “instrument of post-colonial hegemony”, facing Western problems for passing the anti-homosexuality law, and playing a prominent regional military role in the Troops stationed in South Sudan, Central African Republic and Somalia. Uganda’s president has always been able to stay ahead of the game and prove that he is still a political maestro after all these years. “
12. Abubakar Shekau – Boko Haram leader
You will be amazed or even put off that a comrade like this made this list of the most influential African leaders, but remember what I said in the introduction and excuse my excesses. The well-known Abubakar Shekau, aka Darul Akeem wa Zamunda Tawheed or Darul Tawheed (“the Abode of Monotheism”), is the leader of Boko Haram, a Nigerian terrorist group that has declared allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. He was vice chairman of the group’s founder, Mohammed Yusuf, until Yusuf was killed in 2009.
Nigerian authorities believed that Shekau was killed in 2009 in clashes between security forces and Boko Haram until July 2010, when Shekau appeared in a video claiming leadership of the group. He was later regularly reported dead and suspected of using body doubles. Shekau, believed to be in his 30s, began carrying out increasingly daring raids on schools, churches and mosques that Boko Haram believed went against their interpretation of Islam. The most prominent success that put him and his group in the international limelight was the kidnapping of over 200 schoolgirls in April 2014 in Chibok, Nigeria.