This article is more than 10 months old

This article is more than 10 months old

The grime artist Stormzy, the Duchess of Sussex and the footballer Raheem Sterling have been named among the most influential black people in Britain.

However, it was the founder of pioneering money transfer firm WorldRemit, Ismail Ahmed, who topped the Powerlist 2020, an annual list of the 100 most powerful people of African, African-Caribbean and African American heritage across Britain.

Ahmed set up the company, which is designed to help migrants send money back home to their families and friends, in 2010 using compensation from the UN for exposing alleged corruption in its remittance programme in Somalia.

Using a smartphone app, the service charges customers a nominal fee and cuts out agents who would formerly take a cut of the money.

In 1988, Ahmed left the autonomous region of Somaliland at the start of the civil war to study in London. He picked strawberries as a student to fund his education, along with several other jobs, and sent some of the money back to relatives living in a refugee camp.

He soon became frustrated at the inconvenience and cost of transferring money through traditional agents. “It is a real privilege and honour to win this award,” he said. “When I was growing up in Somaliland, I saw how money sent back home by migrants could transform the lives of individuals and entire communities.

“I was determined to find a better way and I set up WorldRemit in 2010 with the mission of making it easier and faster for migrants to send money home.”

Remittances are believed to make up a $700bn (£545bn) global market, according to the World Bank. WorldRemit has 4 million users sending money to 150 countries.

Michael Eboda, the Powerlist 2020 publisher, said: “Ismail is a true pioneer whose company is shaking up the remittance industry and positively impacting the lives of people around the world. His story is incredibly powerful and an inspiration to us all.”

A panel chaired by retired high court judge Dame Linda Dobbs selected the 13th Powerlist this year. It is designed to celebrate those at the top of a wide range of industries including business, science, technology and the arts.

Footballer Eniola Aluko, MP David Lammy, journalist Gary Younge, artist and author Akala, peer and Snap vice-president Oona King, and columnist and author Afua Hirsch were also among the top 100.

The top 10

1 Ismail Ahmed - founder and chairman of WorldRemit

2 Pat McGrath, MBE – makeup artist and founder of Pat McGrath Labs

3 Michael Sherman – chief strategy and transformation officer at BT

4 Jacky Wright – chief digital officer at Microsoft

5 Stormzy – grime artist

6 Edward Enninful – editor-in-chief at British Vogue

7 Ebele Okobi – public policy director, Africa, the Middle East and Turkey

8 Paulette Rowe – global head of payments and financial services at Facebook

9 Lynette Yiadom-Boakye – artist

10 Richard Iferenta – partner at KPMG