Dangote And Okonjo-Iweala Make TIME 100 Most Influential List

 

Two Nigerians have been named among the TIME 100 most influential people in 2014. 

Nigerian billionaire and business mogul, Aliko Dangote, and renowned economist, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, both made the coveted TIME list this year, in the ‘Titans’ and ‘Leaders’ categories respectively. As a tradition, TIME has a renowned person write the profile of the individuals on the list. 

 This year, Dangote’s profile was written by US business magnate, philanthropist, investor, computer programmer and inventor, Bill Gates, while Okonjo-Iweala’s profile was written by Irish singer-songwriter, musician, venture capitalist, businessman, and philanthropist Bono.

............Read what Bill Gates wrote about Dangote.

Africa’s richest man who does good in addition to doing well 

A year ago, I gave a speech in London about the fight to eradicate polio. It included a section on Nigeria, one of just three countries where the virus still circulates. The organizers told me Aliko Dangote had been invited. I thought, I’d like to see him, but he’d end polio faster by staying in Nigeria and doing the work he does every day. Fortunately, Aliko thought the same thing. He skipped my speech, and the children of Nigeria are better off for it. 

Aliko is Africa’s richest man, and his business activities drive economic growth across the continent. That’s impressive, but I know him best as a leader constantly in search of ways to bridge the gap between private business and public health. It’s for that reason he helped create the Nigeria Private Sector Health Alliance. And it’s for that reason he is an advocate for agricultural research and malaria control. All of this is in addition to Aliko’s leadership on polio and other diseases. 

The last time I was in Nigeria, we met with dozens of people, from government leaders to front-line health workers. After I left, Aliko followed up with them to make sure they were doing the work they said they would do. This year, Nigeria is on pace for its lowest number of polio cases ever. Aliko is a big reason why. 

Gates is co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

............Read what Bono wrote about Okonjo-Iweala.

Guardian of Nigeria’s public funds

I first met economist Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala when she was campaigning for Nigerian debt relief. We’d been fighting our way through capitals around the world trying to get Cold War–era debts canceled for the poorest, most heavily indebted countries. During her first term as Finance Minister of Nigeria, Ngozi arrived at her desk to find a weighty $30 billion owed. With oil prices on the rise, she stopped having to plead with her creditors and bought a massive chunk of her own debt so she could cancel it herself. As if to make a point.

She became a legend in that moment. Humor and joy spill out of her, which can belie the fact that she’s got one of the toughest jobs on the planet — how to ensure that the tens of billions of dollars earned each year in oil receipts go into productive usage, like agriculture, infrastructure, health and education. Ngozi has made corruption her enemy and stability her goal. She is fiercely intelligent; everyone wants her to work with them. I couldn’t be prouder to work for her.

Bono is the lead singer of U2 and a co-founder of ONE and 

-Time