MTN Nigeria chief executive officer Karl Toriola has been named 2025 Most Influential People of African Descent (MIPAD) CEO of the Year as the global civil society organisation prepares to stage its recognition and awards ceremony in Lagos for the first time.
Tagged Lagos Diaspora Experience 2025, this year’s edition will hold in Nigeria, marking a departure from the tradition of staging the ceremony in New York during the United Nations General Assembly.
The week-long programme will celebrate African excellence, culture, innovation and diaspora connection, and will culminate in the End of Year Recognition and Awards Ceremony scheduled for Sunday, December 21.
Other activities lined up include Diaspora Day at the Fela Exhibition, Afrobeat Meets Diaspora, Cultural Heritage Day and Business Leadership Luncheons.
MIPAD is a global initiative supporting the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent from 2015 to 2034. It identifies and recognises high achievers of African descent worldwide while promoting global recognition, connection and collaboration.
For 2025, MIPAD will honour individuals and institutions whose work has advanced African achievement across business, government, technology, media and the creative industries.
Mr Toriola, who will also deliver a keynote address at the ceremony, stands out in the CEO of the Year category.
Other top honourees include Lagos State governor Babajide Sanwo Olu and Lagos, recognised as Governor of the Year and City of the Year for leadership in culture, innovation, tourism and diaspora engagement.
Minister of art, culture and the creative economy Hannatu Musawa will receive Minister of the Year, while Olorì Atúwà tse III, Queen Consort of Warri Kingdom, was named Most Influential Woman of the Year and Adewale Tinubu, group chief executive officer of Oando, was named Most Influential Man of the Year.
Davido will be honoured as Artist of the Year, Ojy Okpe of ARISE News as Most Influential News Anchor of the Year and Stephanie Busari as Media Executive of the Year.
In celebrating this year’s honourees, Michael Ehindero, managing director, Pernod Ricard Nigeria, owners of Martell Cognac, who emerged as Brand of the Year, expressed deep appreciation for the brand’s continued global recognition, saying: “It’s a great reward for the team who’s delivered Martell excellently in Nigeria over the years. We say thank you to the teams, we say thank you to our consumers and we say thank you to MIPAD. Martell has a lot of promising experiences in the years to come in Nigeria and with this we invite you over to Nigeria to experience Detty December.”
Founder and chairman of MIPAD, Kamil Olufowobi, said the Lagos edition represents a major moment for the platform.
“For the first time, we’re bringing our world-famous recognition platform home to celebrate excellence within the global Africa family right here in Lagos. This is more than an event; it’s a movement uniting the best of us,” Olufowobi said.
The event will also recognise the Class of 2025 as well as Nigerian awardees from previous years who were unable to attend earlier ceremonies in New York.
