Sanusi named Forbes Africa Person of the year 2011

Written by Odidison Omankhanlen, Mathew Asabor, Lagos Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Nigeria's Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi told reporters in the capital, Abuja, yesterday the midpoint of the naira target band was lowered to 155 per dollar from 150.Goh Seng Chong/Bloomberg

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Lamido Sanusi, has emerged winner of the Forbes Africa Person of the Year 2011. The announcement was made on Monday, at the inaugural Forbes Africa Person of the Year awards ceremony organised by ABN Productions, at the Sky Restaurant, Eko Hotel in Lagos, Nigeria.

The event was attended by high ranking officials and businessmen from Nigeria and across Africa, with the Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola and the Governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon Rotimi Amaechi delivering keynote addresses.

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was named winner from a shortlist of five of Africa's most influential personalities.

According to the Managing Editor of Forbes Africa, Chris Bishop, “they have had significant influence on the events of 2011 on the African continent.” The shortlist includes: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, president of Liberia, Africa's first female Head of State; Pedro Veron Pires, former president of Cape Verde, who won the 2011 Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership; Aliko Dangote, a Nigerian businessman and philanthropist, president of Dangote Group; and the late Professor Wangari Mathaai, Nobel Prize Kenyan environmental and political activist.

Sanusi was selected by a judging panel consisting of BBC bureau chief, Peter Burdon; CNBC Africa chief editor, Godfrey Mutizwa; Reuters bureau chief, Matthew Tostevin, Managing Editor Forbes Africa, Chris Bishop and Forbes Africa senior journalist, Vuyo Mvoko.

Since assuming office as CBN Governor, Sanusi's far-reaching reforms in Nigeria's banking sector, have won him many accolades at home and globally.

via Tribune