The incidence of the deadly pandemic, Covid-19, is slowly subsiding and the year saw significant improvement in economic activities, trade and social life. While it is in no way near to the pre-Covid-19 era, the economy and society is slowly moving towards normal. Africa is a developing continent that was somehow shielded from the more intense impacts of Covid-19 as seen across some of the more developed nations. However, the economy did suffer and this year we saw several activities, events and programs being conducted for ensuring normalcy and continuity. One of these events was the FIN (Foreign Investment Limited) philanthropic and leadership roundtable conference. This event was held in the month of May 2021 and despite the significant restrictions, it was an astounding success. The event was graced by several participants, organizers as well as honorary speakers. Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani, a noted businessman and philanthropist from Zambia, was invited in this event as an honorary speaker. The event was held online to comply with the ongoing social distancing norms and isolation restrictions. As such, the members and honorary speakers attended the event from their respective locations and the event was broadcasted across the globe via YouTube medium. Dr. Mahtani, who was the only significant businessman to be invited from Zambia, spoke about the significance of leadership in healthcare.
Apart from the eventful business conference, the event was also hyped as a result of addition of Forbes ‘Best of Africa’ awards category. The award ceremony was a part of the Forbes-FIN event. The awards are presented to individuals with significant, noteworthy and long-term investment in philanthropy to achieve long-term empowerment of the continent. Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani, apart from being invited as the honorary speaker, was also conferred with the Forbes ‘Outstanding Entrepreneur of the Year’ award. He received this award for redefining the banking sector of Zambia as well as contributions towards business and philanthropic across Zambia.