Inaugural Forbes Africa Person of the Year 2011 announced

Finalists included Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Pedro Veron Pires, Aliko Dangote and the late Professor Wangari Mathaai, but it was Sanusi who was judged as the person with the most significant influence on the events of the year gone by.

In his acceptance speech governor Sanusi said that "To be shortlisted along with four great Africans for Person of the Year is one of the greatest honours imaginable. And to have been selected winner from that group is simply beyond dreams."

As the Forbes Africa Person of the Year he will appear on the cover of the December issue of the magazine where readers will also get more insight into his life as a leader in Africa. For the second consecutive year, Sanusi was named Central Bank Governor of the Year in Sub-Saharan Africa by global business magazine, Emerging Market.