Ellen Jonson Sirleaf 1980 A Political Force

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was schooled in the U.S. before serving in the government of her native Liberia. A military coup in 1980 sent her into exile, but she returned in 1985 to speak out against the military regime. She was forced to briefly leave the country again. When she won the 2005 election, Johnson-Sirleaf became the first female elected head of state in Africa. In 2011, she was one of a trio of women to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

President Sirleaf $ Caranda Brands Founder, Liberia 2011

Our Founder met with President Sirleaf about empowering the Liberian farm sector with a focus on tree crops.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was educated at Harvard University and earned her Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is married and has four children. Okonjo-Iweala was vice-president and corporate secretary of the World Bank Group. She left it in 2003 for a career as the Finance Minister of Nigeria. There she was put in charge of the economy of the most populous and oil-rich nation in Africa. In 2005 she led Nigerian negotiations that eliminated portions of Nigeria’s external debt. She introduced federal government financial transparency and was instrumental in obtaining Nigeria’s first ever solid credit rating. She resigned as Nigeria’s Foreign Minister in August 2006 and is notable for being the first woman to hold either position. In 2007 she was appointed Managing Director of the World Bank making Okonjo-Iweala one of the world’s most powerful and influential women.

Dr. Jean-Ping

Long before his appointment as Chairman of the African Union in 2008, Jean Ping had built a reputation as a first rate diplomat, having previously served as Foreign Minister of Gabon (1999-2008) and as President of the United Nations General Assembly (2004-2005). The son of a Chinese merchant and a Gabonese woman, Ping is considered one of the most influential persons in Gabon. In addition to serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ping held other key posts in the government of the late President Omar Bongo-including the positions of Minister of Post and Telecommunications, and Minister of Mines and Energy, a significant post, given Gabon’s role as one of Africa’s major oil producers.

It is, however, as Chairman of the African Union (AU), that Ping has really hit his stride internationally, turning the organization into what it ought to be: an articulate voice and major player when it comes to matters pertaining to Africa.  Whether or not one agrees with him, there can be no denying the fact that Ping was an early and critical voice against the Western led militarization of the Libyan revolution.  He sharply criticized the decision by France to drop weapons to the rebels fighting Gaddafi forces.

He has also sharply criticized what he says is the focus by the International Criminal Court (the ICC) on prosecuting African leaders accused of crimes against humanity.  His position has not been so much that African leaders should not be held to account for their actions while in office.  Rather, his complaint has been that leaders of non-African nations, including, for example, the leaders of Burma and Middle Eastern nations like Bahrain and Yemen, have not been held to account for conduct similar to or worse than what certain African leaders like Gaddafi have been held accountable for by the ICC. He was thus a vocal critic of the outgoing Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, Louis Moreno-Ocampo, and led the AU’s successful push for the appointment of Fatou Bensouda of Gambia to replace Moreno-Ocampo as the ICC Chief Prosecutor.

Under Ping, the AU has also played major roles in mediating and resolving African disputes.  The AU, for example, maintained a strong peace keeping force in Sudan and continues to field a resilient force in Somalia.

Who is he? Who is Paul Sika? You might wonder. This answer and much more are given in his completely self published, yet professional book, whose title says it all: “At The Heart Of Me…”

However we feel it is important that you receive at least part of these answers here.

Paul Sika was born on the 13th of July 1985 in Abidjan, the capital of Cote d’Ivoire/Ivory Coast, a country located in West Africa. Spending a considerable part of his younger years playing video games and programming calculators, he decides to study Software Engineering in order to also be able to make the electronic entertainments he loves so much.

The United Kingdom and more specifically England is the land that welcomed him for his further education after obtaining a baccalaureate from Lycée Blaise Pascal, the French Lycée of Cote d’Ivoire.

In London, Paul falls in love with cinema; a love that leads him to explore his imagination together with photography. Upon graduating from Westminster University with a BSC in Software Engineering, he decides to leave the field of computers when he goes back to his native country. When flabbergasted friends and fellow countrymen would ask why he came back, when he could have stayed there and get a really good career and a nice salary or even enter the respected London College of Communication that wanted him, he would answer “It had to be done. The future will tell us why.”

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Pierre’s opening of Grand Dakar in 2006 was a culmination of diverse culinary background.

Pierre Thiam was born in Dakar, Senegal. He was blessed by being raised both in this most cosmopolitan of African cities and in the rustic region of Senegal’s southernmost coastal province, Casamance. In Dakar, the family meals included elegant Senegalese food as well as French, Vietnamese and Moroccan cuisine. In Casamance, where he summered and traveled for family gatherings, he was treated to age-old indigenous flavors and preparations later influenced by Portuguese colonists. The love of food simmered within him and reached a high point when he came to NYC.Yolele! Recipes from the Heart of Senegal

To paraphrase Flannery O’Connor, a good African cookbook is hard to find. “And so when such a book appears, the bubbly comes out and the music crescendos.”

Senegal-born Chef Pierre Thiam wrote the first cookbook on Senegalese food, Yolele! Recipes from the Heart of Senegal, and ended up nominated for a prestigious IACP (International Association of Culinary professionals) award. Alas, this year someone else won, but that doesn’t really make much difference. As the chef said in an interview, his biggest goal was to get the book published.

Morou is the chef and owner of Farrah Olivia Restaurant in Alexandria, Virgina. Growing up on the Ivory Coast, Morou’s first inspiration in the kitchen came from his mother. Born into a large family, he would watch his mother create impromptu feasts for up to 40 people when extended family members stopped in to visit. Combining African, French and Middle Eastern flavors, she would turn everyday meals into celebrations. This motivated Morou to develop his own signature appeal to his food through unique creations and innovative pairings.