Celebrities DBI rating from an African perspective.

(Cesaria Evoria via livermusic.cz)

DBI rating: index for overall appeal of a celebrity.
The DBI, which was introduced February 13, goes a step beyond the 41-year-old Q rating—which is based on two factors, how many people have heard of Celebrity X and how many people name him or her as one of their favorites— by surveying 1.5 million Americans to score the boldfaced on eight key attributes: “appeal,” “notice” (their pop ubiquity), “trendsetter” (their position as such), “influence” (do they have any?), “trust,” “endorsement” (spokespersonability), “aspiration” (do we want his or her life?), and “awareness”. The scores are then cross-referenced in a database that supposedly will help advertisers decide who among a list of more than 1,500 celebrities will help them hawk their wares. Access costs $20,000 a year.
Sometimes the term Q score is used in similar discussions of a person or product’s overall fame, popularity, or likability. Other popular synonyms include Q rating, Q factor, or simply Q.
The Q Score is influenced by both people’s familiarity with the subject and their favorability toward it. The Q Score is primarily used by the marketing, advertising and public relations industries to measure which celebrities can help promote their brand better.
As of February 2006, the ranking of the top 10 celebrities in the DBI index were:

Tom Hanks, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Cosby, Michael J. Fox, Michael Jordan, Robin Williams, Mel Gibson, Clint Eastwood, Sean Connery, and Tiger Woods.

Obviously, the study and ranking are seen through an America-centric prism. So I was wondering how a global list of personalities would rank from an African perspective.
There is absolutely no data upon which I base the following ranking except my own perspective. Still, I kept the same criteria as the original study and tried to be as objective as possible with a bit of an explanation whenever that was possible:
[Again here are the criteria: “appeal,” “notice” (their pop ubiquity), “trendsetter” (their position as such), “influence” (do they have any?), “trust,” “endorsement” (spokespersonability), “aspiration” (do we want his or her life?), and “awareness”)]:

1) Nelson Mandela: I don't think I need an explanation here. One note though, Q-score studies tend to shy away from political figures because the trust factor is often non-existent. I think that in Mandela's case, there is an exception and that he is more than a political figure at this point.

2) Bob Marley: This is a pretty high for a non-African person but given, the number of Bob representation in Africa, I can safely assert that Bob is African by adoption.

3) Haile Selassie:
"Today Haile Selassie I is widely known as God incarnate among followers of the Rastafari movement." I think that would constitute enough evidence.

(Note: Those two are the only deceased personalities that would be entered in this list. This is list is not an historical hierarchy, so if an African child is not aware of your existence because you are dead, you obviously would not rank very high.)

4) Roger Milla:
Milla coming onto the pitch for Cameroon in the last 10 min of Italy 1990 world cup and scoring goals after goals will forever be anchored in the memory of every Africans. " Le vieux lion rugit encore"


5) Mohammed Ibrahim:
This African billionaire wants to fight corruption heads on with his foundation that will reward the African leader that display the most transparency in his administration with $5 million USD. Controversial idea but certainly out of the box, no ? Scored points in trendsetter and trust categories in my book....

6 ex-aequo) Bono/Angelina Jolie: The philanthropic efforts of those 2 megastars in Africa have been well-documented. Many Africans perceive their efforts as merely guilt-ridden charity. To that, I say 2 things: 1) who cares ? and 2) Are you kidding me ?. ( In Q -score rating, it evidently does not hurt to be good-looking...speaking of which...)

7) Alicia Keys: This R&B singer has got everything: youth, talent, looks and now she shows her abnegation by visiting and helping health centers in South-Africa slums without much publicity....Some people just ruin it for everyone...

8 ex-aequo) Cesaria Evoria/Samuel Eto'o/Didier Drogba:
just because....

9) Rachida Dati:
1st woman of African descent to be named minister of Justice in France. The fact that she joined a despised political figure in Africa prevents her from being ranked higher.

10 ex-aequo) Mahaleo/Ethan Zuckerman:
At this point, it's really difficult to not be subjective, so I figure I will go the full monty with my preferences. I just cannot imagine my childhood without the Malagasy band Mahaleo ( still kicking myself for not being able to make it to their big concert in Paris..). I also get quite a kick out of reading "My Heart's in Accra" on a daily basis...And I have feeling I am not alone on both counts.