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Interestingly, revered Nigerian author of Things Fall Apart and other seminal books, Chinua Achebe, comes in at number one while Forbes rates Nobel Laureate and playwright, Wole Soyinka number six. Nollywood diva, Genevieve Nnaji, is Africa's biggest actress no doubt being the only thespian in the top 20; she is rated number 19. Coming at number 32 is author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. On a list dominated by musicians, authors, models, athletes and television personalities from all over Africa, Nigeria dominates with 11 names on the list. Ivorian and Chelsea FC of England pointman, Didier Drogba is the only footballer on the list at number three as Youssef Ndour is rated number two. Akon, Angelique Kidjo, K'naan and Koffi Olomide, among others, are the other musicians on the list.
A statement on the website of the American media company asserts, "Determining the celebrities who exert the highest degree of influence in contemporary African pop culture involved sifting through the nominations for the individuals with the highest numbers of votes, and then measuring their media visibility (exposure in print, television, radio and online), number of web references on Google, TV/radio mentions and their general clout across the continent. Ideally, a robust social media presence would have been an invaluable yardstick in determining the intensity of influence these individuals exert over their enthusiasts.
However, apart from Senegalese hip-hop act, Akon, Nigerian beat maker, Michael Collins, a.k.a Don Jazzy and a handful of others who boast 6-figure followers on networks like, Facebook and Twitter, an overwhelming number of Africa's most influential celebrities have either a very small or non-existent social media presence." It further states that only a handful of celebrities do little to support social causes, but made the list anyway because of the overwhelming number of votes they received and the immense acclaim they enjoy across the African continent and the world.
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