Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote & Tony Elumelu make the Final Shortlist :Forbes Africa 

The anticipation of the award for the Forbes Africa Person of the Year 2012 is getting more intense as the magazine unveils its final shortlist. After an overwhelming response from its readers, Forbes Africa has presented the top 5 nominations for Person of the Year 2012. According to Forbes Africa, these individuals were nominated by its readers because of their impact on African business in the past year.

The final 5 that made the list are Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote and Tony Elumelu, Dr. James Mwangi from Kenya, Stephen Saad from South Africa and the only female on the list, Malawian President, Joyce Banda.

Here’s what Forbes had to say about the top 5:

Aliko Dangote - Founder and president of Dangote Group

Motivation: Last year’s runner-up to Forbes Africa Person of the Year is still Africa’s richest man worth more than $11.2billion. Dangote continues to be one of the continent’s biggest employers. He promises to donate most of his fortune to charitable causes upon his retirement.

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Dr James Mwangi - CEO and Managing Director of Kenya’s Equity Bank Limited

Motivation: Dr James Mwangi won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2012 as well as Africa’s Innovation Leader of the Year Awards in 2012. Equity Bank is planning to extend its financial services to Ethiopia when the country opens its banking industry for foreign investors.

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Joyce Banda - Malawian President

Motivation: Banda, Malawi’s first female leader has restored strained diplomatic ties with neighbors and the international community. Her administration has embraced investor friendly economic policies; she cut her salary by 30%; sold the presidential jet and a fleet of luxury cars in austerity drive.

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Tony Elumelu - Founder and Chairman of Heirs Holding

Motivation: The multimillionaire grooms African business leaders and enterpreneurs through the Tony Elumelu Foundation. He is the leading advocate of Africapitalism, an economic philosophy that embodies the private sector’s commitment to Africa’s economic transformation through long-term investments.

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Stephen Saad - Co-founder of the Aspen Pharmacare

Motivation: Saad is the biggest shareholder of the largest publicly traded drug manufacturer, Aspen. The company has a market capitalisation of $6 billion. Saad became a multimillionaire at 29. Now aged 47, he employs more than 6,000 people.

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Voting has begun on the Forbes Africa Website and would close on Thursday, 1st November. Interestingly, the Person of the Year will be revealed at a Forbes Africa event in Nigeria.

So, who do you think deserves the award of the Person of the Year?