Former First Lady of Ekiti State ,Erelu Bisi Fayemi has received African Philanthropy Lifetime Achievement Prize.
At event held at the African Philanthropy Conference in Cairo, Egypt, last night, Mrs Fayemi was honoured with the award of Africa’s most prestigious prize in philanthropy.
The African Philanthropy Conference team, led by Professor Bhekinkosi Moyo, for this honour.
This was in recognition of her over three decades of exceptional contributions to social change philanthropy on the continent and globally, particularly her pioneering work in co-founding and running the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) twenty-five years ago.
Since its founding, AWDF has supported women’s groups and movements across Africa and the Middle East, giving over $50 million to many unable to access mainstream funding in over 50 countries and immeasurably advancing the gender equality agenda in the process.
Although Bisi has received several honours in the field of philanthropy, including the David Rockefeller Bridging the Gap Award of the Synergos Institute, USA, and the Sigrid Rausing Foundation Prize in the UK, this award represents the crowning glory of all her years in social change philanthropy. With this recognition, she joins a stellar list of winners since the establishment of the prize in 2019, including Mrs Graca Machel, Dr Akwasi Aidoo, Dr Gerry Salole, and Dr Tade Aina — all well-known exemplars in the field of philanthropy.