Like last year, they are again five in 2016, to be featured in the Choiseul ranking of 100 future African Economic Leaders, which has just been released. First Cameroonian in this African Top 100, Jean Paul Mélaga (39 years), MD of Whitestone Finance and former Africa Director for Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi (2008-15), has remained in this ranking for the past three years. The same is the case for Bony Daschaco (39 years), CEO of Acmar Media Group, and Tony Smith, CEO of Limitless Corporation and former Project Manager at Microsoft (2009-2011).

This year, the newcomers in the Choiseul are called Ingrid Etoke (36 years), Central Africa MD of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the British multinational specialised in pharmaceutical products. Ex-Cameroon Director at Laboratoires Sandoz (2010-2014), this former student of the Université de Lille joins this ranking at the same time as Tonjé Bakang (35 years), a self-taught man who became CEO of Afrostream, after being Project Manager at Europacorp in 2013.

As a reminder, the Choiseul ranking, published every year for the Institute of the same name, “identifies, lists and ranks young African leaders aged 40 years or less, who may play a major role in the economic development of the continent in the near future”.