We published our first AotY in 2020, at the height of that virus we all now pretend never happened. It was a celebration of the people keeping us alive, keeping us sane, and giving us hope in what was a quite spectacularly horrible time.
This is our sixth AotY. We've lauded health workers, writers, comedians, DJs, communities, and a billionaire (bet you didn't see that one coming from us with our often radical worldview).
Each profile has been about people working to make our continent better.
For the first time, we're opening up the list so anyone can nominate. Share your wisdom. But please be judicious - send a message to that gossip WhatsApp group you have where you all try seem super serious and ask who they think is deserving of being an African of The Year.
And let's celebrate the fact that the vast majority of people are good.