Angelique Kidjoe, other global dignitaries set for 2021 GUBA awards today

Four-time Grammy Award winner Angélique Kidjo and several other dignitaries have started arriving in the country’s capital city, Accra, for the 2021 Grow, Unite, Build, Africa (GUBA) excellence awards slated for today, November 8, at the Accra International Conference Centre.

Being one of the greatest artists in the international music scene, a creative force with thirteen albums to her name, Ms. Kidjo will perform some of her hit tracks at the event.

GUBA Enterprise’s President and CEO, Dentaa Amoateng MBE, told The New Publisher that some other dignitaries who would be in Accra for the awards include, H.E Rebecca Akufo-Addo, Second Lady, Samira Bawumia, Bellavia Ribeiro-Addy, Abena Oppong-Asare both Labour Party politicians in the British Parliament, Rt Honourable Diane Julie Abbot, the first black woman elected to the British Parliament, Dawn Petula Butler, a British Labour Party politician and Vice President of Costa Rica – H.E Epsy Alejandra Campbell Barr.

The rest are Alain St Ange, a Seychellois politician who served as Minister for Tourism and Culture, and later for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine, of Seychelles from 2012 to 2016, Angela Palmer, the artist who created the Ghost Forest art project and returned an Ashanti stool that had been taken from the palace of Yaa Asantewaa by a British officer in 1900, Ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago to Ghana, Wendell Vincent Carlton de Landro among several others.

Other key personalities to receive special awards include, Director General of World Trade Organization, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first elected female head of state in Africa.

GUBA has dedicate the 2021 awards to the celebration of a century of the passage of Yaa Asantewaa, the influential warrior and Queen mother of Ejisu, who rose to lead an Asante army against the invading British. This event will be in Accra, a first in Ghana.

This year’s Awards, is a celebration of an important moment in African history, one that is unique to the relations between the Republic of Ghana and the Republic of Seychelles and also to celebrate the resilience of the African woman. The theme for GUBA Awards 2021 is “Celebrating a Symbol of Courage and Resilience.”

The Awards, is expected to host several high-profile personalities in Ghana and from the diaspora. The plethora of dignitaries and personalities expected to grace this year’s Awards, reflects the shift from an event celebrating the Ghanaian diaspora to a truly Pan-African occasion.

“More importantly, the event will also mark the centenary of the death of Yaa Asantewaa, an Asante Queen Mother and the last African woman to lead a major war against the then colonial powers. Yaa Asantewaa is honoured across Africa and the African diaspora for her resistance to then British imperialism and she is widely considered as a symbol of courage, strength, and resilience. She was a critical figure in recognizing and using the power of women to mobilize both men and women to resist colonial power.” GUBA Enterprise’s President and CEO, Dentaa Amoateng MBE, indicated.

Dentaa noted, “GUBA awardees are the modern day representation of Yaa Asantewaa; at the time the world was faced with an unprecedented pandemic, they took up the mantle of leadership, and with courage and resilience, helped to steer the world back onto the path of progress”.

While celebrating the contribution of Black women, the events will also raise awareness on maternal mortality and call for measures to ensure safe child delivery across the continent. GUBA Enterprise believes that every child, born and unborn, has great potential and must be given the opportunity to fulfill this potential.

GUBA Enterprise seeks to promote greater economic, social and cultural cooperation between Africa and the African diaspora through harnessing the power of the African youth to advance the socio-economic interests of the continent.