JOHANNESBURG November 16, 2015 – The overall winners of the 5th All Africa Business Leaders Awards (AABLA) in Partnership with CNBC Africa Grand Finale, hosted by Bakgatla-Ba-Kgafela were revealed at a sensational gala dinner held in Sandton, South Africa on November 13. Wendy Ackerman of The Ackerman Foundation received the All Africa Philanthropist of the Year - one of two new awards added to the line-up.
Renowned for identifying excellence in business on the African continent, the All Africa Business Leaders Awards in Partnership with CNBC Africa recognise the challenges and diversity of the African business arena, and the All Africa awards celebrated the overall champions of business who have shaped the continents business landscape.
Wendy Ackerman of The Ackerman Foundation received the All Africa Philanthropist of the Year - one of two new awards added to the line-up. The category was introduced at the 2015 AABLA to recognise those who seek to promote the welfare of others and to encourage more benevolence on the continent. Ackerman was nominated alongside Fred Swaniker, Founder of the African Leadership Academy and Tanzanian businessman, Mohammed Dewji, Group CEO of MeTL Group. In her thank you speech, Ackerman noted: "The future, I'm quite sure, is Africa."
About Wendy Ackerman
Wendy Ackerman is one of the founders and an Executive Director of Pick n Pay Stores. Together with husband Raymond Ackerman she helped build one of South Africa’s pre-eminent FMCG retailers, consisting of over 450 stores including 121 supermarkets and 14 hypermarkets. Operations are in food, clothing, and general merchandise sectors as well as financial services. The company operates throughout South Africa, southern Africa and Australia and employs around 49,000 people.
Wendy was instrumental in developing the Pick n Pay brand, particularly its social responsibility ethic. She worked tirelessly to mould Pick n Pay into a socially responsible retailer. In the 1970s, the Ackerman family established their first philanthropic venture, the Ackerman Family Educational Trust. Today, much of Wendy's boundless energy is devoted to her family's philanthropic endeavours and her personal work for the underprivileged.