Cosmas Maduka, founder and president of Coscharis Group of Companies, a leading Nigeria’s indigenous conglomerate, is set to join 60 other top entrepreneurs from 51 countries to compete for the ‘EY World Entrepreneur of the Year’ in Monaco, France.
Maduka and others will also be inducted into the ‘EY World Entrepreneur of the Year’ Hall of Fame.
Due to Covid-19 travel restriction, this year’s winner will be announced virtually on June 04, 2020.
Maduka, winner of 2020 EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award (EOY) in West Africa, will be recognised alongside other 60 country winners for their exceptional entrepreneurial achievements who will vie for the award at the global level.
Speaking on the award, Ashish Bakhshi, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year leader for West Africa, says the award is not only designed to celebrate and honour the contributions and achievements of successful entrepreneurs but also serves to inspire today’s successful entrepreneurs so they could share their incredible entrepreneurial stories.
“On behalf of EY Body of Partners and entire staff, I want to wish Maduka very best of luck and hope he brings the coveted award to West Africa. We are proud of his achievements in the business world not only in Nigeria but on the African Continent,” he says.
One of the most interesting and unique features about this year’s edition is that the entire process of the event will be conducted virtually. The overall winner will be chosen by an independent judging panel of distinguished former EY Entrepreneur of the Year winners and other well-known entrepreneurs drawn from the business circle world-wide. The award is given on the basis of six criteria: entrepreneurial spirit, financial performance, strategic direction, innovation, global impact and personal integrity/influence), allowing all country winners an equal opportunity to compete.
James Mwangi, CEO and group managing director of Equity Bank, Kenya, was the first and only African to win the prestigious EY World Entrepreneur of the Year award. Other past winners were Hamdi Ulukaya, founder and CEO of Chobani Inc (USA); Olivia Lum, group CEO and president, Hyflux Limited (Singapore); Guy Laliberté, founder and CEO, Cirque du Soleil (Canada); Narayana Murthy, founder and chairman of Infosys Technologies Limited (India), and Cho Tak Wong, chairman, Fuyao Glass Industry Group (China), among others.
EY Entrepreneur of the Year award programme started in 1986 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the US. In 1987, it was held across 11 US cities and in 1993, it started to expand internationally. The programme was introduced in West Africa (Nigeria and Ghana) in 2011.
