Minister of trade Lucia Iipumbu was awarded by the African Leadership Magazine as one of the Persons of the Year at a glittering event held on Saturday in Mauritius.
The board and management of the African Leadership Organisation (UK) Limited, publishers of the African Leadership Magazine (ALM), invited Iipumbu for the 11th ALM Persons of the Year (POTY) awards presentation ceremony.
The ALM promotes innovation, entrepreneurship and development in Africa, which hardly finds placement in the mainstream media, and celebrates exemplary leadership and individuals who have contributed, across diverse spectrums of society, to shaping the global perception and growth story of the African continent, as well as re-positioning the African continent.
The minister was honoured alongside Julius Maada Bio, president of Sierra Leone, among other winners of the 2022 edition of the ALM Persons of the Year awards.
Speaking to New Era, Iipumbu said she is honoured and privileged to be among the 11 awardees, including business and public service leaders, as well as the vice chancellors of the University of Victoria Falls in Zambia and the University of Mauritius.
“I was delighted to share a platform with Julius Maasa Bio of Sierra Leone, who was also awarded as an African person of the year and I received my award from him. My participation and engagement at the African Union (AU) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) meetings earned me recognition as per the organiser’s version of the criteria for selection, which apparently prompted them to follow my activities at home and evaluate my contribution,” she explained.
Iipumbu continued: “I am simply just doing my work and serving my people as it is supposed to be. This is the second award following – another one from the Organisation of Women in Trade (OWIT) last year in October in Abuja, Nigeria. The criteria were the same, and I believe our advocacy for a level playing field for the implementation of driving the African economy is gaining recognition,” she noted.
Deputy minister of information Emma Theofelus was also recognised as an emerging African leader by the magazine.