An independent panel of judges that included two past AWIEF Lifetime Achievement Award winners, selected the 24 finalists across eight categories.
These outstanding women entrepreneurs and business leaders represent companies from a diverse range of sectors and operating in 12 different African countries: Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.
- Gisèla Van Houcke - founder and CEO, Zuri Luxury Hair and Beauty, DR Congo
- Nadine Farrag - CEO and founder, Farahy, Egypt
- Stacey Menga Onyango - director, Minkoti Agencies Limited, Kenya
- Faith Mokgalaka – founder and CEO, Puno Greenery, South Africa
- Sahar Salama - founder and CEO, TPAY Mobile, Egypt
- Thato Mabudusha Schermer - co-founder and CEO, Zoie Health Technologies, South Africa
- Esther Kimani - founder, Farmer Lifeline Technologies, Kenya
- Grace Kariuki - CEO, Origen Group, Kenya
- Korka Diaw - president, Réseau des Agricultrices du Nord, Senegal
- Diana Mbogo - managing director, Millennium Engineers Enterprises Limited, Tanzania
- Judith Marera - founder and CEO, Lanforce Energy, Zimbabwe
- Mona Al Adawy - founder and CEO, GeoEnergy Petroleum Services, Egypt
- Abai Schulze – founder and Creative Director, ZAAF Collection, Ethiopia
- Barbara Kamba-Nyathi - CEO, Bold Dialogue, Zimbabwe
- Vénicia Guinot - chairwoman, Tropics Group of Companies, South Africa
- Barbara Afia Class-Peter - founder, Honour-Barbara Centre for Speech, Ghana
- Johanna Cloete - managing director, GEN Namibia, Namibia
- Lumbie Mlambo - founder and CEO, JB Dondolo, Zimbabwe
- Martha Alade - founder, Women in Technology in Nigeria (WITIN), Nigeria
- Teresa Njoroge - founder and CEO, Clean Start Solution, Kenya
- Velveeta Viban - founder and Executive Director, I’m Human Org, Cameroon
- Dalia Ibrahim - CEO, Nahdet Misr Publishing House, Egypt
- Manal Amin - CEO, Arabize, Egypt
- Nomhle Maggie Mliswa - CEO, Summerhill Farms, Zimbabwe
The winners will be announced and celebrated at a special awards ceremony and gala dinner, sponsored by Amazon Web Services (AWS) at the AWIEF2022 conference taking place on 26 and 27 September 2022, on-site in Cairo, Egypt and virtually.
