Diaspora Economy Highlights

Delali Awards, the African Diaspora Entrepreneurship Awards, keeps its promise

Opener

BY SAMUEL MATHEY

Ph.D., MBA, MA

(Edited by Soumanou Salifou)

The first edition of the Delali Awards, a ground-breaking ceremony honoring African entrepreneurs in the diaspora held Friday night at the Boulevard St. Laurent’s event hall of the Radio Centre Ville in Montreal, Canada, proved to be the upscale, memorable gala its initiators intended, wrapped up in the fanfare and pomp usually associated with such grand events.

The Delali Awards are the collective initiative of three pioneering African organizations, AFEED, Afrique Canada Monde, and Nephtali Consulting, all working under the leadership of Dr. Samuel Mathey (founder, president and CEO of AFEED) and his associate Eric Agbemelo.

The ceremony kicked off with an opening statement by Estelle Obeo, an African Canadian candidate for the next parliamentary election, followed by speeches by Eric Agbemelo and Martin Ducaine, CEO of Capital Innovation.

Also: Launch of the African Foundation for Entrepreneurish and Economic Development.

All three speakers stressed the need to transform the African entrepreneurs operating in the diaspora into an army of job-creators and wealth providers who, by advancing the economies of their host-countries, will, at the same time, change the negative perception of the mother continent.

Matey and a few others

This premier edition of the Delali Awards honored African entrepreneurs in nine categories

  • Constant Nemale, founder and CEO of Africa 24 TV, based in France, received the award of the best entrepreneur in the media. Africa 24, the first African TV launched in Europe, employs more 100 people and boasts more than 80 million viewers across the world.

  • Fondation Michaëlle Jean is a foundation forged by the current secretary-general of the International Francophony Organization (OIF) and her husband. It is based in Quebec, Canada and has helped more than 300,000 young blacks in arts to setup their artistic ventures, and has trained more than 10 million people in various areas. The foundation received the Jury’s Special Award.  

  • Zoané Gnapié Maie José, founder and CEO of Black & White Beauty Shop based in Germany won the best female entrepreneur’s award. Her beauty shop services both black and white patrons. She also started engaging in beauty products.

  • Adam Sow, founder and CEO of Socosmetics in Quebec, Canada won the award for the best entrepreneur in manufacturing. She is the initiator of an industrial unit that produces beauty products for the black complexion.

  • Gérard Koffi, founder and CEO of Formatour Canada based in Toronto, Ontario-Canada won the award for the best entrepreneur in the service sector. His company provides training and consulting services for high-end companies with clients across the world.

  • Hervé da Silveira, founder and CEO of Djembel Dance institute, based in France, won the award for the best art entrepreneur. He developed and patented a fitness dance based on African ancestry dance movements and provides a certification system for trainers.

  • Junior Fabian, founder and CEO of Scarface Entertainment, won the award of the best entrepreneur in event promotion. Scarface is a Canadian company that promotes dozen of African artists and events each month.

  • Bayot Miny is the founder and CEO of Zagapali, a Belgian company that is specialized in fashion bags. Bayot won the award of the best entrepreneur in Fashion.

  • Serge Mouane is the founder and CEO of Wafrica, a Japanese company that produces Kimonos with African material and designs. Mouane received the award for the best entrepreneur voted by the social media users.

Mathey closure

Also: An invitation to collaborate as a cohesive African diaspora.

In his closing remarks, Dr. Samuel Mathey, one of the brains behind the initiative, unveiled his ambitious plan to build by the year 2030 in the diaspora an army of one million African entrepreneurs dedicated to servicing their host-countries and humanity. The African scholar stated:

“Entrepreneurship is the only instrument that can turn African and black people into job-creators, wealth and value generators, and fiscal instruments.”

Dr. Mathey also unveiled a list of activities aimed at promoting the winners over the next 12 months. He called on the authorities in the host-countries, as well as African leaders, to assist those entrepreneurs with training, contracts awarding, scholarship, and more.

He finally announced that the second edition of the Delali Awards will be held in May 2019.

Au revoir DELALI AWARDS 2018, welcome DELALI AWARDS 2019.