Meles Zenawi
The late Ethiopian Prime Minister started as a freedom fighter, on the front lines to dispatch Communist strongman Mengistu. From the rural province of Tigray, Meles was a champion of farmers, leading a policy to prevent further drought like the disasters that struck Ethiopia in the 1980’s. His rule was considered autocratic at times, but a key to Ethiopian development an keeping the country in the forefront of Pan Africanism.