August 18, (THEWILL) – Last week, both Pastor Paul Adefarasin, founder and senior pastor of House on the Rock church and chairman of Zinox Group, Leo Stan Ekeh, both bagged awards at the 2021 Forbes Best of Africa Award, one of the most prestigious awards on the continent. Adefarasin bagged the prestigious award of the Most Influential Personality in Africa. In addition to receiving the award, Adefarasin who is also the president of Rock Foundation, delivered the keynote speech on the day of the award titled, Leadership and Philanthropy.
An architect by training, Adefarasin who is married to Pastor Ifeanyi Adefarasin is also an author and the convener of “The Experience” – the largest gospel musical event in Africa.
Similarly, Ekeh, a serial digital entrepreneur, bagged the Forbes Best of Africa Leading Tech Icon Award. This award for Ekeh, is the latest in a long list of local and international awards and recognitions he has received in his over three decades of pioneering Information and Communications Technology space in Africa. Ekeh was singled out for founding the most integrated ICT group in Africa with influence in four continents. He was also honoured for pioneering e-commerce, desktop publishing and computer graphics, wireless cloud and WiMAX, the first locally assembled and internationally certified computer brand – Zinox, digital dispensing pumps for fuel and gas stations as well as the biometric revolution for elections, among others in Africa.
Other recipients of the Forbes Best of Africa Award are Mr. Sam Matekane, Kwame Bediako, Mr. Mahmood Ahmadu, Ms. Wendy Ackerman, Dr. Rajan Mahtani, Mr. Ken Sharpe and Claver Gatete.
The Forbes Best of Africa awards recognizes and rewards change-makers, individuals and organizations that have made a remarkable difference on the African continent, improving the lives of millions across the region in the areas of entrepreneurship, technology, leadership, vision and influence despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. And this is made possible by an independent, foreign network of individuals using intelligent data gathered across various platforms after months of intense research and thorough verification exercise.
Ivory Ukonu is a versatile journalist with many years of experience, with entertainment and society reporting as her area of core competence.
