Two Ethiopians have been named among 50 most influential Africans of 2018 by the prestigious Paris-based Jeune Afrique Magazine. According to April–May 2018 edition of the magazine, Microsoft 4Afrika regional director, Amrote Abdella and a South-Africa based astrophysicist, Yabebal Fantaye are named along with other African influential figures, including Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote and Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
The magazine described the 36-year-old Amrote as Microsft’s most famous figure on the continent and one of the best ambassadors of the digital revolution. “Her wide influence makes her an excellent interlocutor of the group with many states. Thanks to an initiative launched by Microsoft five years ago, more than 500,000 small businesses have managed to get online visibility, 800,000 Africans upskilled, 80 local start-ups helped to grow their ventures,” it reads.
Holding an M.A. in international economics development from Brandeis University in Massachusetts, Amrote in has I nthe past worked for, among others, the World Economic Forum, the World Bank Group, the Hunger Project and the Grameen Foundation.
The other Ethiopian who made to the list, Yabebal Fantaye is a cosmologist who is a researcher at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) in Muizenberg, South Africa. Laureate of the Next Einstein Forum held last March in Kigali, Yabebal did his Bachelor of Science in Physics and Mathematics from Addis Ababa University, then his PHD in Cosmology in Trieste, Italy and a postdoctoral research at the University of Oslo, Norway. Yabebal’s research investigates the statistical properties of the Universe using the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), which means the time when the universe began, the magazine explains. His research provides precious information about the universe and current situation, it says.
Yabebal has spent the last two years leading an outreach program in Ethiopia called Astrobus Ethiopia that includes social scientists, fashion designers, artists, innovators and scientists to deliver holistic stimulation for scientific thinking.
