Burna Boy, Adichie, Okonjo-Iweala… 10 Nigerians on Forbes 100 African icons list

Forbes Magazine has listed Burna Boy, Afrofusion star; Chimamanda Adichie, novelist; and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, World Trade Organisation (WTO) director-general, among its top African icons.

In Forbes Africa’s new issue, the top-100 innovations, inventions, and icons across different fields were recognised.

Nigerian music superstars, Davido, Wizkid, and Mr Eazi were included in the list.

Nollywood stars, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, Genevieve Nnaji, and Funke Akindele-Bello were also recognised.

Writing about Davido’s inclusion, Forbes said he is “without a doubt one of Africa’s biggest musicians”.

“The Nigerian-American artist, who also graced the Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 list in 2018, told us that ‘it was people like P-Square and D’Banj who made him believe that all this was possible.”

On Chimamanda, Forbes wrote: “Known for her feminism which comes across not only in her books but in the way she speaks, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has brought the power of narrative to all the work she has done.

“The Half of a Yellow Sun author has been described by The Times Literary Supplement as ‘the most prominent’ of a ‘procession of critically acclaimed young Anglophone authors [which] is succeeding in attracting a new generation of readers to African literature”, particularly in her second home, the United States (her first being Nigeria).”

Aside from the Nigerians listed, other global figures like Trevor Noah, Barack Obama, Elon Musk, Lupita Nyong’o, Idris Elba, Samuel Eto’o, Djimon Hounsou, Tedros Ghebreyesus, Desmond Tutu, and Nasty C were also named.

See the 10 Nigerians on the list below.

• Davido
• Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde
• Wizkid
• Burna Boy
• Swanky Jerry
• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
• Funke Akindele Bello
• Genevieve Nnaji
• Mr Eazi