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Tag: Dangote

  • 2019: Presidency clears air on Dangote’s membership of APC Campaign Council

    The Presidency says Alhaji Aliko Dangote, who is not a card-carrying member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), cannot, and is not member of the party’s Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) as erroneously announced on Friday.

    Mr Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, made the clarification in a statement on Friday in Abuja.

    The statement read: “It has become imperative to further clarify the status of Alhaji Aliko Dangote, named under the sub-head ADVISORY MEMBERS in the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council announced on Friday, December 28, 2018.

    “Africa’s richest man, not being a card-carrying member of APC, cannot, and is not member of the PCC.

    “He is also a member of the Peace Committee, and thus cannot be in a partisan campaign council.’’

    A statement earlier issued by the presidential aide on Friday had named Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Adams Ohiohmole, Bola Tinubu, Sen. Ahmed Lawan, Femi Gbajabiamila, Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola as members of the Special Advisory Committee to President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Other members of the Council, according to the statement, are Chief Bisi Akande, Chief John Oyegun, Sen. Ita Enang, All APC serving Senators and All APC serving and former Governors.

    All APC Members of the House of Representatives, all members of the National Working Committee of the APC and all Zonal Women Leaders are also members of the council.

     

  • 2019: Shehu Sani warns Dangote against accepting Buhari, APC’s presidential campaign offer

    2019: Shehu Sani warns Dangote against accepting Buhari, APC’s presidential campaign offer

    …tells Keystone, 9mobile to publish names of shareholders

    The Peoples Redemption Party member representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Senator Shehu Sani on Friday warned the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, who has just been appointed as an adviser to the Buhari’s reelection campaign council, to handle his new responsibilities with caution.

    The outspoken senator also challenged the management of the communications giant, Etisalat, and Keystone bank to publish the list of their shareholders without further delay.

    The senator through his verified Twitter handle on Friday said such action by the management of the two organisations would put a stop to the controversies surrounding their ownership.

    Sani’s tweets read, “Dear Bro Aliko (Dangote), don’t use Broom to reinforce your silos, don’t use Broom as your plasterboard; don’t use Broom to mix your concrete, (but) maintain the use of your machine concrete mixer.”

    Recall that the Atiku Campaign Organisation had through one of their spokespersons, Buba Galadima, alleged on Wednesday that families, associates, and cronies of President Muhammadu Buhari, were the largest shareholders in the two firms.

    But Sani said the immediate publication of the firms’ owners, would also save the President, whose integrity was already being called to question, from ridicule.

    Sani tweeted, “In view of the moral dust raised by the questions on the shares of the two firms now on the scale of integrity, Etisalat & Keystone should publish the full names of their shareholders, to exhale the billows of smoke and clear the dark clouds hanging over the landscape of our nation.”

    In another tweet, the senator urged any Nigerian with concrete evidence of corruption against the family of President Muhammadu Buhari to send such to the relevant anti-corruption agencies in the country for necessary investigations.

    He also challenged those accusing the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2019 general elections, former vice-president Atiku Abubakar, to write a petition to the anti-graft agencies instead of making a noise about it in the media.

    He said, “If you have any concrete case of corruption against the ex-VP, forward it to the relevant anti-corruption agency; If you have any concrete case of corruption against the family of Mr. President, forward it to the relevant anti-corruption agency. Else, it’s all about ghosts and shadows.”

  • [Photos] Jonathan, Oshiomhole, Dangote, Governors others attend Anenih’s funeral

    [Photos] Jonathan, Oshiomhole, Dangote, Governors others attend Anenih’s funeral

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan, Peoples Democratic Party’s vice presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and the national chairman of the All Peoples Congress, Adams Oshiomhole, on Saturday attended the funeral service of popular politician, Tony Anenih.

    Also at the funeral mass celebrated by the Arch-Bishop of Benin Diocese of the Catholic Church, Augustine Akubueze, were Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta state, James Ibori, Emmanuel Uduaghan, Governors Godwin Obaseki and Seriake Dickson, Patrick Osakwe, Aliko Dangote, among numerous personalities.

    The Mass took place at St. Anthony Catholic Cathedral, Uromi where the Bishop in charge of the Diocese, Most Rev. Donatus Ogun, urged Nigerian politicians to stop politics of mudslinging.

    According to the Bishop, Nigerians are tired of dirty politics, stating that as the 2019 general elections approaches, politicians should tell Nigerians what they can do to make their lives better.

    “Nigerians want hope, they want to be told what the candidates will do to make their lives better, they are tired of hearing rubbish from politicians,” he said.

    He emphasised, “Learn to go to church and have the fear of God; always know that there is a God who is ready to forgive when you come back to Him.”

    “Be generous, if you cannot spend what you can die and leave behind, how do you expect God to assist you? Heaven is real and we must work hard to enter heaven,” he said, noting that the late Tony Anenih was like a collosus.

    The Bishop stated, “Chief Anenih who helped to give solutions to many people’s problems, he was a man of integrity, he gave people opportunities to live.”

  • I’ll buy another club if Kroenke refuses to sell Arsenal – Dangote

    Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, had said he will consider buying a football club other than London-based Arsenal if controlling shareholder Stan Kroenke refuses to sell.

    Dangote has long said he wants to buy the Premier League team, of which he’s a fan, but only after he’s completed one of the world’s biggest oil refineries in Lagos.

    “By the time we’ve finished, we’ll be a $30bn company in terms of revenue,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg TV at the New Economy Forum in Singapore. “We’ll have an excess amount of cash to start playing around with.”

    Kroenke owns almost all of Arsenal after buying Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov’s 30 per cent stake in August in a deal that valued the club at about £1.8bn. It was funded with a £557m , two-year loan from Deutsche Bank AG. The 71-year-old American is worth $8bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and also controls the National Football League’s Los Angeles Rams.

    “I’m very attached to Arsenal but if he won’t sell, I might have to change,” said Dangote, 61 years old and worth $11.1bn. “I’m very much a fan of football. I have to have a club. I don’t have to own Arsenal.”

    The refinery is scheduled to start producing fuel in early 2020, and Lagos-based Dangote Cement Plc will probably be listed in London around September next year, he told Bloomberg

  • Dangote emerges sixth most charitable person in the world

    Dangote emerges sixth most charitable person in the world

    The philanthropist gesture of the President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, was recognised and highlighted by Richtopia, a United Kingdom-based digital periodical that covers business, economic and financial news on Wednesday, as the richest man in Africa was named the sixth most charitable man in the world.
     
    Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and J.K Rowlings occupied the first three positions, while Oprah Winfrey and Elon Musk were in the fourth and fifth position, respectively.
     
    Aside from Dangote, the Chairman, United Bank for Africa Plc, Tony Elumelu, was 11th on the list, making him the second Nigerian on the list.
     
    Dangote recently endowed his Aliko Dangote Foundation to the tune of $1.25bn. The foundation was started in 1981 with a mission to enhance opportunities for social change through strategic investments that improve health and wellbeing, promote quality education, and broaden economic empowerment opportunities.
     
    It was, however, incorporated in 1994 as a charity in Lagos. Twenty years later, it has become the largest private foundation in sub-Saharan Africa, with the largest endowment by a single African donor.
     
    The primary focus of the Aliko Dangote Foundation is health and nutrition, supported by wrap-around interventions in education, empowerment and humanitarian relief, a statement said.
     

  • Manufacturing is key to economic growth, development- Dangote

    Executive Director of the Dangote Group, Hajiya Halima Aliko-Dangote has urged millennials in Nigeria and across Africa to diversify from service-oriented enterprises to manufacturing and agriculture in a bid to fast-track the development of the continent and better life for its nationals.

    Halima Dangote said that the economic realities around the world have shown that the way to go is agriculture and that the youths must take the lead more when most African countries are still grappling with low economic growth.

    Addressing the 58th Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Abuja yesterday, Hajiya Halima Dangote said African countries have groped in the dark for too long and it is high time the millennials stand up to be counted as the future of the continent.

    In her paper titled “Roles of Millennials in Transition and Institution Building”, the Dangote Group Director explained that the youths have the potentials to turn around the fortune of the African continent. She stated that “Millennials are young ones born between 1980 and the mid-2000s, who account for 27% of the global population (about 2 billion people) and Sub-Saharan Africa alone is home to 13% of the entire millennial population, ranking second to Asia.

    According to her, “available statistics have also revealed that by 2025, 75% of the global workforce will be millennials, large enough to influence consumer spending patterns; change consumer business models and impact the global economy. Most members of this generation are at the beginning of their careers and so will be an important engine for economic growth in the decades to come.”

    Amid intermittent applause from the lawyers, Hajiya Halima Dangote stated that the theme of the conference which is “Transition, Transformation, and Sustainable Institutions” could not have come at a better time than now and therefore lauded the Association for coming up with a subject that Nigeria and Africa needed to discuss.

    She congratulated the outgoing President of the NBA, Mr. A. B. Mahmoud OON, the incoming President, Mr. Paul Usoro SAN, and “all my learned friends here for successfully continuing with the vision handed down by the fathers and founders of the Association.”

    The Executive Director also urged millennials and other relevant stakeholders to exercise restraint in the face common desperation for wealth by their contemporaries adding that, “Success in entrepreneurship takes time, dedication and hard work. There is a need to disabuse our mind from the concept of overnight success. Industrialisation requires patience and perseverance.”

    She also spoke extensively on the successes recorded by the Dangote Group, founded by her father Aliko Dangote, in creating numerous jobs and establishing value-adding industries and contemporary businesses through importation, manufacturing and backward integration to generate and highlight local content for overall development.

    While noting that the achievement by the group did not come easy, Hajiya Halima Dangote said “the Millennials should see these opportunities and diversify from service-oriented enterprises to manufacturing enterprises. Manufacturing has the capacity to create numerous jobs, develop an economy, sustain jobs and open other linkages.”

    She noted that millennials are leaders in transition and are evolving. To her, “With smartphones and connections, the Millennials can exert much influence and swing the outcome of a situation. This confers on them great role and responsibility in shaping the outcome of policies and politics in a nation”.

    “Economic sentiments have turned sharply since 2015. The general consensus across sub-Saharan Africa’s two largest economies is that lack of employment opportunities poses a very big problem amongst other key societal issues identified through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    “Despite these concerns, there is considerable optimism about the future, and millennials are increasingly getting more active in influencing and energising public opinion through social networks and creating mass movements. They are also actively leveraging digital fluencies to improve public sector accountability; address global societal problems and drive civil society engagement. “, she stated.

    According to her, “Dangote Industries Limited is one of Nigeria’s foremost conglomerates with interests in cement, sugar, salt, flour, pasta, noodles, poly products, real estate, agriculture, logistics, telecommunications, steel, oil and gas, and beverages among others. The Group has over 15,000 direct employees. It provides indirect employment to tens of thousands of others who are engaged in activities relating to our businesses. Dangote Cement now has presence in 18 African countries (Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Cameroon, Liberia, South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, Sierra Leone, Congo, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Chad, Mali and Niger).”

    Speaking at a breakout session of the Conference, the Chief Executive of DAX Consult, Adaku Ufere Awoonor said millennials are the most educated and assertive age group that are currently creating wealth globally pointing out that young people around the world are now influencing outcomes of political activities, while others have risen to position of power and are making meaningful contributions to their societies.

    ” Millennials are entrepreneurs. If they can’t find job, they create one. They are doers and comfortable using digital media for promoting their causes,” she added.

    Another Panelist speaker, Nasir Yammama, who is the CEO of Vordent AgriTech said millennials are extremely innovative, even in the face of limited resources, and challenges posed by social and political environments. He said his company is involved in creating technology that will support the agricultural sector. “We are also working on a craft, we called it “witchcraft” to help solve problems and create jobs, using technology,” he added.

    In the same vein, the Managing Director of Mojec Holdings, Chantelle Oluwabumi Abdul said in spite being a young person, her company controls about 80 percent of metering in the power sector in West Africa.

    She said young people should look into creating ideas and as well execute the ideas promptly.

    “I believe in the Nigerian dream. I believe in africa. Young people now look at creating real wealth in billions and not millions again,” she added.

    The sheer size of this demography which is already about half the size of world population and the democratisation of information using technology is a warning sign to future politicians and the future of politics.

    “The Nigerian and African Millennials in this context although largely preoccupied with start-ups, business activities and professional success are also intensely politically and socially active through the social media”, Hajiya Halima Dangote added.

    “They are thereby gradually influencing the course and content of politics and the flavour of social and political life, and social activism through the broad reach, power and immediacy of the social media. They will eventually have to enter the political arena as potential political and business leaders formed in the digital age.

    “To do this, Nigerian and African Millennials must deliberately ground their transformation efforts for national and continental advancement in a deep understanding, respectful and non-abusive appreciation of their cultural heritage”, she added.

    Hajiya Halima Dangote also stressed the growing need for strong institutions to manage these developments and transitions, as Africa develops. To her, the continent must transit from having strong persons to strong institutions, strong institutions with effective executive capacity needed for sustainable development.

  • Dangote set to boost local tomato production in Nigeria

    …Signs 500 million Naira Investment Agreement with Katsina State to revive Songhai Project

    The Group President/CE, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, on Thursday, July 5, 2018, signed an agreement with Katsina State Governor for reviving and upgrading the moribund Songhai project in Dutsinma town, under a 10-year lease agreement.

    The initiative which will see an initial investment of half a billion Naira by Dangote Group will ensure the installation of the state-of-the-art tomato research and development (R&D) facility equipped with drip irrigation and fertigation systems and ultimately, the cultivation of 10,000 hectares of farmland and establishment of tomato processing plant within the Zobe dam region.

    Speaking at the signing and handing over ceremony of the Songhai project, renowned Africa Industrialist, Alhaji Aliko Dangote expressed his commitment towards supporting Katsina State Government in reviving the Songhai project, putting its arable land to good use while creating employment for farmers in the region.

    He said “Today is one of my happiest days to have finally concluded and signed this agreement so we can take action. I assure you, we will not only cultivate and process tomatoes, we will also help Katsina effectively utilize its vast arable land.

    “With your support in providing an enabling environment, we will move to the site quickly to begin cultivation and more importantly integrate farmers in our out-grower scheme to make this project a reality. Apart from tomatoes, we will farm other crops and do our best to make this project succeed.”

    Reacting to the development, Katsina State Governor, Aminu Masari who described Katsina State as investor-friendly lauded the initiative as a significant milestone and a great turning point in the economic transformation of Katsina State and its people. He further described the project as one that will not only serve Katsina State but West Africa region and beyond.

    The Governor promised to provide Dangote with the necessary support to ensure the success of the project which he said will further open up local economy in the state.

    According to Project lead, Robert Coleman, Dangote will leverage technology and skilled manpower, to farm tomato in and out of season. The research and development (R & D) facility will provide a training hub for farmers, agronomist, and students within the region, generating both skilled and unskilled employment opportunities for up to 1,000 people.

  • Insecurity: Dangote donates 150 operational vehicles to Nigerian Police

    …as FG lands donation

    Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has praised the Aliko Dangote Foundation for donating fully fitted 150 operational vehicles to the Police

    The vice-president said the vehicles would assist in combating crime and described the Foundation Chairman, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, as a rare entrepreneur who has done so much to grow the nation’s economy.

    He said the government needed people like Dangote to join hands with it to grow the economy and provide jobs for the youths.

    He said: “There have been a lot of talks on private-public partnership, but as we can see Alhaji Dangote is walking the talk.

    “Government’s role is to provide the enabling environment while the private sector should take advantage of the opportunities that abound to grow and develop the economy.

    ”The donation of 150 cars to the Nigerian Police Force is laudable and we thank Aliko Dangote Foundation for this rare gesture which is characteristic of the person of Aliko Dangote.

    “He has shown over the years to be an entrepreneur with a difference, a man that gives so much to the poor”

    Describing the donation as the single largest by any private individual to a security outfit, Osibanjo urged other Nigerians to join hands with the Federal Government to effectively secure the country.

    Dangote explained that the donation was imperative considering the importance of security to the economy.

    He said: “We are gathered here today to mark the formal handover of a total number of 150 GAC saloon cars to the Nigeria Police Force in order to help boost their operational efficiency.

    “I am told that today marks the single biggest number of operational vehicles ever donated to the law enforcement agency by a private organisation.

    “Considering the challenges government face in meeting the needs of the populace for necessities like health, education and security, various Public Private Partnerships (PPP) initiatives have been developed.”

    The Foundation, according to Dangote, has been active in the areas of health, education, economic empowerment and disaster relief, adding that it had expended up to N10 billion annually.

    While calling on other corporate organisations to rise up to the challenge, Dangote said his Foundation donated N50 million to the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF), and built the Police Intelligence Hostel Complex in Kwara State.

    “Today, we are deepening our intervention in security with the donation of these 150 fully-kitted operational vehicles to the Police Force. These vehicles will support the Nigeria Police Force in surveillance, crime prevention and promote law and order.”

    Inspector-General of Police Ibrahim Idris promised that the cars would be well-utilised for the purpose for which they were donated.

    He urged Nigerians to go about their business lawfully, noting that the Police were well-equipped more than ever before to fight crime across the country.

    Chairman of the CIG Motors Nigeria Limited Chief Diana Chan, said the action had thrown a challenge to other private sector operators to come to the aid of the security agencies.

  • Gunmen kill Dangote’s manager

    Unidentified gunmen killed the manager of a plant owned by Nigeria’s Dangote Industries Limited in Ethiopia on Wednesday after he was attacked in the restive Oromiya region while returning to the capital from the factory, officials said.

    Oromiya, which surrounds the capital Addis Ababa, was plagued by violence for over two years, largely fueled by a sense of political and economic marginalisation among its young population.

    Hundreds died in the violence that was triggered in 2015 by demonstrations over land rights, before they broadened into rallies over freedoms that spread to other regions.

    “The company’s director died following an attack by unknown gunmen that took place while returning from the factory alongside two company employees,” a government statement said.

    “Security forces are currently pursuing the assailants,” it added.

    The statement called on residents in the area to help gather details.

    Representatives of the company in Nigeria were not immediately available for comment.

    It was not immediately clear whether it was the company’s country representative or the plant manager who died in the attack.

    During the unrest, some vehicles belonging to the firm were torched by protesters.

    Company heads have been in discussions with the region’s authourities to boost employment opportunities.

    The plant – Ethiopia’s largest cement producer – was inaugurated in May 2015.

    The country remains under a state of emergency imposed in February, a day after prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn resigned.

    Former army officer Abiy Ahmed has since replaced him.

    Since taking over amid the unrest that threatened the ruling coalition’s tight grip, Mr. Ahmed has vowed “a new political beginning” including more democratic rights.

    Thousands have been released since January, including journalists and dissidents who have been jailed for a variety of charges including terrorism.

  • Dangote emerges only Nigerian on 2018 Forbes World Most Powerful People

    Of the nearly 7.5 billion people on the planet, Forbes has identified the one person out of every 100 million whose actions mean the most.

    Nigerian business mogul and Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, 61, was the only Nigerian to make the 75 Most Powerful People in 2018, according to a list released by Forbes. He’s pegged on 66th position coming a spot ahead of Vice President of the United States of America, Mike Pence who’s pegged on number 67 on the list.

    Recall that the President of the Dangote Group of companies has often made such lists due to his business concerns and humanitarian efforts in Nigeria and other parts of the world.

    Dangote, who made his fortune in the cement industry, is turning his attention to dairy and sugar farming; he’s earmarked $800 million to buy 50,000 cattle in the hope of producing 500 million liters of milk annually by 2019.

    He’s also racing to finish a 650,000-barrel-a-day oil refinery near Lagos, set to be one of the world’s biggest, and says he intends to spend as much as $50 billion in the next decade on renewable energy and petrochemical refineries, including investments in the U.S. and Europe. Which is all fine, but not quite his grand ambition: buying Arsenal, his favorite soccer team.

    Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, seizes the top spot on Forbes’ 2018 ranking of The World’s 75 Most Powerful People for the first time ever. China’s congress amended its constitution in March, broadening Xi’s influence and eliminating term limits. Russian President Vladimir Putin (No. 2) has been knocked out of the top spot, a title that he held for four consecutive years. A little over one year into his term, President Donald Trump falls to the No. 3 spot.

    Newcomers to the list include Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud, Crown Prince, Saudi Arabia (No. 8), who has risen to power and will be the fulcrum around which the region’s geopolitics move for the next generation; Jerome H. Powell, Chair, Federal Reserve (No. 11); Emmanuel Macron, President, France (No. 12), who is pivoting France toward the world’s capitalist stage; Jean-Claude Juncker, President, European Commission (No. 33); Michel Temer, President, Brazil (No. 50); Moon Jae-In, President, South Korea (No. 54); Hui Ka Yan, Chair, China Evergrande (No. 60); Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister, Singapore (No. 61); Ken Griffin, Founder, Citadel (No. 65); Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Army Staff, Pakistan (No. 68); Reed Hastings, Cofounder, Netflix (No. 71); and Robert Mueller, Special Counsel, Justice Department (No. 72), who has already indicted several of President Trump’s associates and can make or break the Trump administration.

    “This year’s ranking of The World’s Most Powerful People highlights the consolidation of power in the hands of an elite few,” said Forbes Contributing Editor David Ewalt. “China’s Xi Jinping ranks in first place for the first time, unseating Vladimir Putin, who held the top spot for four consecutive years. This also makes President Trump only No. 3 on the list, which is unprecedented only a year into his term.”

    Angela Merkel, Chancellor, Germany (No. 4), remains the world’s most powerful woman. Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud is now the youngest person on the list, a title formerly held by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (No. 13). Bernaud Arnault, Chairman, LVMH (No. 56) returns to the list thanks to swelling revenues at his fashion house Louis Vuitton.

    Four factors were taken into account to select each of the World’s Most Powerful People: how many people over whom they have power; the financial resources they control; if they have influence in more than one sphere; and how actively they wield their power to change the world.

    Forbes annual ranking of The World’s Most Powerful features 75 people — one for each 100 million people on Earth.

    Out of the 75 members, 17 are newcomers. Among them there are presidents, billionaires, heads of organizations, CEOs, and one Special Counsel. One commonality: their words and actions impact large number of people, businesses– even entire economies.

    From the new President of France to the army chief of Pakistan to the world’s most powerful person in sports, below are all new members of the ranks.

    The only newcomer who’s ranked in the top 10 is Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (#8). In November last year, the crown prince locked up a group of 200 people of the country’s richest and most powerful (including his billionaire cousin), forcing them to turn personal fortunes to the state as a part of an “anticorruption campaign.” After sequestering their assets, he went on an American tour to gladhand with Trump, Bezos, Gates and Oprah among others.

    The ex-Carlyle Group partner Jerome Powell, became the world’s top central banker in February, after Trump didn’t extend Janet Yellen’s term. The Georgetown-educated lawyer will have big shoes to fill, as Yellen is widely considered to have done an outstanding job regarding the drop in unemployment and rise in the stock market.

    In early 2017, after the strong favorite for new president Francois Fillon found himself entangled in corruption scandals, the relatively unknown Emmanuel Macron seized the chance. Uniting the center and the left, in May of last year, Macron obliterated the far right candidate Marine Le Pen, and at age 39 became France’s youngest leader since Napoleon. The ex-Rothschild banker has big plans about the traditionally obstinate country – in an interview with Forbes he vowed to eliminate the 30% exit tax for anyone who wants to take money out of France.

    In August of last year, John Flannery took over as CEO of General Electric. One of America’s most iconic companies has certainly seen better days since Edison started it in 1890: share price is slashed in half over the last three years, mostly due to decades of bad acquisitions in the power business. The Wharton MBA and GE veteran will have the difficult task to persuade investors and clients that one of the corporation can bounce back up.

    European Union’s top executive Jean-Claude Juncker makes his debut in a difficult year. Following Brexit, the anti-EU sentiment in many countries is stronger than it has ever been in the past. It is up to the ex-prime minister of Luxembourg to persuade government heads and local citizens that EU is still, 26 years after its creation, a good idea for them.

    When Rex Tillerson left Exxon Mobil with a $180 million parachute for what turned out to be a short-lived stunt as a Secretary of State, the Board appointed Darren Woods as the company’s new CEO. The Kansas native has big plans for Exxon as it prepares for a low carbon future. “We understand the risk” (of carbon affecting global climate) he told FORBES earlier this year.

    The only South American on the list is Brazil’s head of state, Michel Temer, who as Vice President inherited the most important position in the country after his predecessor Dilma Rousseff was impeached and removed from office. It’s been a difficult time to be a Brazil president: Rousseff’s predecessor Lula was recently sentenced to 10 years in prison, and Temer found himself entangled in corruption scandals.

    One more president who took over after his predecessor was charged is South Korea’s Moon Jae-in. The ex-special forces sergeant was elected as leader of South Korea after Park Geun-Hye was found guilty of corruption and sentenced to 24 years in prison. In April he and the leader of North Korea made headlines, when Kim Jong-un crossed the southern border for the first time and the two vowed to work on improving the relations between the countries.

    Another newcomer from the Far East is Chinese billionaire Hui Ka Yan. His real estate developer China Evergrande has had a fantastic year — share price is up nearly 230%.

    Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong joins the list two years into his latest mandate and fourteen years as Singapore’s head of government. The leader of the successful free-market promoting city-state said that he expects the economy to grow a 2.5 percent this year. He also chairs GIC Private Limited, one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, with estimated assets under management of $359 billion.

    One of Wall Street’s most powerful players, Ken Griffin earned an estimated $1.4 billion last year from net fees coming from his $28 billion Citadel hedge fund. Privately, he recently paid $60 million to buy the most expensive home in Chicago.

    Though Pakistan’s top general Qamar Javed Bajwa has a boss on paper (the Prime Minister appoints him) in reality it is a different story. Late last year he refused Prime Minister Abbasi’s order to send troops to deal with Islamist protesters in Islamabad, and he brokered a peace with the angered crowd that resulted in the resignation of the Justice Minister. Bajwa, the most powerful person in the nuclear armed state, once served in Congo under the ex-chief of the Indian army who praised his professionalism.

    Fidelity heiress Abigail Johnson debuts on the list the same year the investment firm’s assets under management reached $2.4 trillion. The Harvard MBA (whose grandfather started Fidelity in 1946) is one of the wealthiest women in the world with over $15 billion next to her name.

    One of Hollywood’s two most powerful people doesn’t even live in Southern California. Reed Hastings, whose Netflix is headquartered closer to Apple and Google than it is to Disney and the Hollywood sign, saw his personal net worth more than double thanks to the rising popularity of Netflix. By the end of March, the streaming service boasted 125 million users globally.

    The longest serving FBI director (2001-2013) since J. Edgar Hoover got assigned the case of his lifetime: determining if, and to what extent Trump’s campaign colluded with Russian officials. So far, Robert Mueller, a decorated Vietnam War hero, has indicted several of the President’s closest associates and reportedly provided the tip that to the raid on Trump’s personal lawyer.

    Joko Widodo, the leader of the fourth-most populated country in the world and Southeast Asia’s larget economy, recently found himself a target of human rights groups, after his government reportedly sentenced an Indonesian teenager to 18 months in prison for insulting him on Facebook. Widodo, popularly called Jokowi, is still largely supported by the masses in the country that counts more than 260 million people.

    The world’s most powerful person in sports, FIFA’s President Gianni Infantino was elected to the position after his predecessor Sepp Blatter resigned amid a series of corruption scandals. An important announcement is set to come from FIFA in June: which country will host the 2026 World Cup. The current competitors are Morocco and a joint bid by Canada, United States and Mexico.