African Excellence Awards

The African Excellence Awards 2025 are returning, celebrating the innovation, resilience, and transformative impact of African businesses across the continent and beyond!

MEA Markets is proud to host this innovative award that honours the trailblazers shaping Africa’s economic landscape and driving progress on the global stage.

Africa in 2025 is a continent of extraordinary momentum and opportunity. With rapid advancements in infrastructure, technology, and education, nations across Africa are unlocking their vast potential. From the groundbreaking achievements of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to the growing network of smart cities and green energy projects, the region is poised to become an even more influential force in the global economy.

African businesses are not only the lifeblood of local economies but are also increasingly driving global trends. The continent’s abundant natural resources, coupled with a growing emphasis on innovation and sustainability, are creating industries that are competitive on a global scale.

Africa is emerging as a global leader in innovation, with cities like Lagos, Nairobi, and Cape Town becoming tech hubs filled with thriving startups in fintech, e-commerce, and blockchain. The energy sector is also transforming, as large solar farms in North Africa and wind projects in East Africa position the continent at the forefront of renewable energy, with nations like South Africa and Morocco setting sustainability benchmarks. Meanwhile, agriculture remains a cornerstone of Africa’s economy, evolving with modern techniques, Agri-tech investments, and high-value crop exports.

The African Excellence Awards 2025 are a celebration of the businesses that are redefining industries and setting new benchmarks. From mining and manufacturing to healthcare and creative arts, Africa is teeming with excellence. The award highlights industries that have seen remarkable growth and innovation.

While the continent has much to celebrate, there is still immense potential to be realised. Infrastructure development increased intra-African trade, and the empowerment of youth and women in business remain critical areas for continued focus. African businesses will continue to play a central role in tackling challenges, creating opportunities, and driving growth.

The African Excellence Awards 2025 shine a spotlight on the companies that are not just excelling in their fields but are making lasting impacts on their communities, countries, and the world. This is your opportunity to honour enterprises and entrepreneurs who embody the spirit of African excellence.

Nominations are now open to individuals and third parties. Our team of experienced professionals will evaluate all nominees based on their quality and achievements. Our commitment to fairness ensures that all candidates are evaluated solely based on their successes and contributions to their respective industries. If you know a business in Africa that deserves acknowledgement for their outstanding capabilities, we encourage you to submit a nomination to ensure their accomplishments are celebrated.

The MEA Markets team work hard in identifying great businesses, driving many of the nominations themselves. The team encourage external nominations from the subscribers of the magazine, web visitors, social media following, clients and wider circulation. Nominating parties are invited to put forward either their own business or third-party companies whom they hold in high regard.

All nominees are formally requested to accept their nomination, nominees are obviously free to accept or decline if they so wish. Those who formally accept are given the opportunity to submit additional supporting information to cement their nomination. There is no obligation to complete and supply such material, we have found that many nominees value this stage, in the process, as much as our research team do.

Our dedicated research team will assess all information presented to them. The team gather information independently from a variety of publicly accessible sources, which are assessed alongside any material supplied by a nominating party or by the nominee themselves. The research team casts their final judgment, based on various criteria such including business performance, longevity, diversification, growth (either sustained or rapid), any significant innovations, feedback from stakeholders.

Once winners are selected, they are personally notified before any public announcement is made, allowing time for any communications throughout the wider business and the coordination of marketing strategies. Unfortunately, not everyone can be a winner; however, all who take part are encouraged to come back next year. Once the press embargo is lifted, details of our award winners will be made public via the MEA Markets website, award winners’ magazine and subscriber newsletter.

We offer a range of promotional packages and items to MEA Markets’ award winners, which vary from inclusion in the free-of-charge winners’ directory, to trophies, content in our magazine and on our website.

We encourage all winners to publicly announce their win independently in order to gain maximum exposure. Announcements via company websites, social media, via publicly released press releases, and through local and national press are all great ways of maximising the exposure which can be gained from such a great achievement. If you have need of further advice, on how to publicise your win, please feel free to get in touch. We are more than happy to assist our clients with their needs.

African Excellence Awards (2025)