Two of Ghana’s finest young entrepreneurs, Marcia Ashong and Dr. Sangu Delle, have been named among The Choiseul 100 Africa young leaders and influencers under 40 years for the year 2022.
Marcia Ashong is the Founder and CEO of TheBoardroom Africa (TBR Africa), and Dr. Sangu Delle is the Chairman and CEO of CarePoint, formerly Africa Health Holdings (AHH), as well as the Founder and Executive Chairman of Golden Palms Investments Corporation (GPIC).
The Choiseul 100 Africa Laurette list is compiled annually by global think-tank, The Institut Choiseul, based on an independent study it carries out over several months. The think-tank works with experts and specialists on the continent to reach its study goals. It is also very strict on candidates/nominees meeting very specific conditions in order to be considered for the rankings.
The basic criteria are that a candidate must be a citizen of one of the 54 African countries, be 40 years old or below by the December 31, 2021, and be an active contributor to the economic development of Africa.
Once an applicant crosses the basic level, his or her profile must also meet several other weighted criteria based on reputation, background, function, influence and networks, as well as potential and leadership.
The total score obtained in the different categories determines the position of each laureate in the final ranking. The study methodology is deliberately designed to represent all the African regions and as many countries as possible to identify an elite cohort from across the continent, as well as from all value creating sectors. This year’s study was completed on August 31, 2022, and the names of Dr. Sangu Delle and Marcia Ashong were on the list.
Marcia
For Marcia, this would be the second time in weeks that she has been recognised at such a high level globally. Just recently, she was named among the UN’s 100 Most Influential People of Africa Descent (MIPAD), and so making the Choiseul 100 Africa list was not a surprise to many.
Marcia’s TheBoardroom Africa (TBR Africa), which started with a handful of women in a few countries, has now become a continent-wide organisation, ensuring the inclusion of African women in high-level decision-making of some of the biggest multinationals in the world.
The company is dedicated to getting talented Africa women into the boardrooms of global blue-chip organisations. So far, they have done it for at least 24 global level blue-chip organisations including Shell Foundation, Unilever, International Finance Corporation (IFC), British International Investment (BII), Global Innovation Fund, Autodesk Foundation, Norsad Capital, Helios Investment Partners and Vision Fund, to name but a few.
The membership of TBR Africa has grown to more than 2,500 women leaders coming from 2,067 organisations across the continent. Over the past 4 years alone, TBR Africa has placed over 70 women on boards and investment committees, 23 of which were from 2021 alone. They are on track to place another 25 women on various boards this year.
Some of the executives in the TBR Africa network come from companies including Actis, General Electric, African Finance Corporation, Google, GlaxoSmithKline, Standard Chartered, Uber and other top global multinationals.
In addition to being named among the 100 Most Influential People of Africa Descent and as one of The Choiseul 100 Africa laureates, Marcia Ashong is currently in the US as one of 23 young global leaders selected to participate in the Eisenhower Fellowships’ prestigious 2022 Global Programme over the next six weeks.
The 23 ‘exceptional young leaders’ were drawn from the worlds of international business, finance, academia, manufacturing, government, music, media, medicine and law. They will be undergoing very intensive, mid-career development in pursuit of ground-breaking projects and enlightening exchanges with critical thinkers in their fields.
As part of the programme, they will be travelling across the USA between now and mid-November to expand their professional horizon and forge new collaborations to better their societies.
Sangu
Golden Palm Investment
Dr. Sangu Delle set up Golden Palm Investments Corporation in 2006 to back promising tech start-ups that can have social impact and generate jobs. Today, Golden Palm is a leading venture capital firm with over US$100million of assets under management across Africa, and has backed leading tech start-ups such as Andela, Flutterwave and mPharma, among 24 others. Golden Palm portfolio companies have collectively raised over US$1.2billion in venture financing in the last ten years.
CarePoint
In 2010, Golden Palm started acquiring healthcare assets, and in 2017, spun out its healthcare portfolio into a new company, Africa Health Holdings, which is now called CarePoint, with a vision to ‘build Africa’s healthcare future”.
Sangu currently serves as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CarePoint, which transforms healthcare assets using technology and innovation, and currently serves over one million patients a year through its more than 65 locations in Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya and its telemedicine platform.
Dr. Sangu Delle is a licensed attorney, admitted to practise law in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. He is also a spirited philanthropist with very rich academic background and experience in pioneering and growing initiatives with very high social impact.
Check out all the details in our current instalment of Techgh24 Personality of The Moment.
