Contributors

EurAfrican 2024

Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard

Founder and Chairman, APO Group, France

As Chairman of APO Group, Nicolas is focusing on delivering high-level counsel for the company’s clients and developing his investment fund dedicated to Africa.

Nicolas has been named among the 100 Most Influential Africans 2023. The New African Most Influential Africans list is the most eagerly anticipated and talked-about annual compilation on the continent, having firmly established itself as the most authoritative, respected, and consulted list in both Africa and the diaspora. Other names on the list of the 100 most influential Africans include the President of the Republic of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, the President of the Republic of Kenya, William Ruto, the President of the African Development Bank Group, Akinwumi Adesina, the President of Afreximbank, Benedict Oramah, Africa’s richest person, Aliko Dangote, and Afrobeats megastar Burna Boy.

The list of the 100 Most Influential Africans, published by New African Magazine, credits Nicolas as an entrepreneur who is “dominating the African Public Relations landscape” and acknowledges “his mastery of Africa’s media landscape, which has earned him the trust of many prominent business and political leaders globally, making him a key agenda driver on the continent. He is particularly interested in using his influence to transform sports and create opportunities for youth in Africa”.

In 2023, Nicolas moderated the panel discussion featuring FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura and Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus at the World Football Summit. Nicolas has spoken or has been a moderator at several high-profile events, including the Bloomberg Africa Business Media Innovators Forum 2019 and the Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) 2019, the Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) in 2019 and 2022, as well as at AHIF’s Africa Tomorrow Conference in 2020.

Nicolas created APO Group in 2007 while he was a journalist for online Gabonese media Gabonews and Deputy President of the Pan African Press Organization in France (APPA – Association de la Presse Panafricaine). He founded the company with a savings of €10,000, as start-up capital. The objective was to provide international and African media access to reliable news about the continent’s economy, businesses, and investment. Since then, APO Group has helped communicators relay compelling, uniquely African stories to audiences, enabling a change in the African narrative to a more positive tone.

Nicolas’ success story has been featured on CNN, in Forbes, in Forbes Africa, and on CNBC Africa.

Nicolas enjoys motorcycling and has a Triumph Rocket 3 R that takes pride of place in his home garage. He is also a proud owner of a “cruzado portugues” show horse.Prior to founding APO Group in 2007, Nicolas served successively as correspondent in Europe of the Gabonese press agency, Gabonews, and Deputy- President of the Panafrican Press Association in France (APPA). Pompigne-Mognard studied law at the Université de Lille (France) and speaks English and French. He is married with three children and lives in Lisbon, Portugal.