Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani, a noted businessman and philanthropist from Zambia, was recently conferred with the Forbes ‘Best of Africa’ awards. These awards were presented during the Forbes-FIN philanthropy and leadership roundtable conference. The FIN conference was held online to comply with the Covid-19 norms. However, this did not dampen the spirit of the event which saw participation from several different personalities, businesses, and notable names from across African business, corporate, and philanthropy. Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani was also a part of this roundtable conference, being invited as an honorary speaker. The event was an astounding success partly due to the inclusion of the Forbes ‘Best of Africa’ award ceremony.

The Forbes ‘Best of Africa’ awards are a category of awards presented by Forbes in collaboration with the Foreign Investment Network. The awards are presented to leading lights in the field of philanthropy. Furthermore, the recipients of the awards are selected rigorously. It comprises background checks and verifications of the recipients, their businesses, and their present and past contributions. After this, both Forbes and FIN representatives conduct interviews to understand the perception of the recipients regarding long-term philanthropy as a means to achieve empowerment across the African nation. This selection process goes on for months. As a result of the strict selection process as well as brand power of Forbes, the winners of the Forbes ‘Best of Africa’ awards gain international recognition.

Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani, apart from being an honorary speaker at the FIN event, was also selected for one of the awards. Forbes recognized the contributions of Dr. Rajan Mahtani towards redefining the banking sector of Zambia and he was conferred with the Forbes ‘Outstanding Entrepreneur of the Year’ award 2021. Dr. Rajan Mahtani received this award for his philanthropic and charitable contributions. Some of these contributions include Prison Fellowship Zambia and Stephen Malama award and scholarship for top law graduates in Zambia.