Former AU Commission chair Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has received the BlackGold Order of Merit (BOM) award for her progressive contribution towards Africa’s development during her tenure as the first female head for the continental body from July 2012 to January 2017.

The event which was organised by Corporate Guardian Limitedin in collaboration with the Pan African Business Forum, an association of like-minded entrepreneurs, corporate executives, investors, professionals, diplomats and academics headquartered in South Africa was held on Thursday, September 14, 2017, at the plush Tang Palace Hotel in Accra. According to the organizers, the award is designed along similar lines to the Mo Ibrahim award and it is strictly politically nonpartisan.

The award took into consideration the contributions of the medical practitioner which has liberated South Africa from the claws of the apartheid and her unmatched public service record in post-apartheid South Africa.

Dr. Dlamini Zuma before she was elected to chair the continental body, served under Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki as the Health and Foreign Minister respectively. She was also the Home Affairs Minister under her ex-husband, President Jacob Zuma.

She is currently aspiring to be the presidential candidate of the African National Congress (ANC).