The third edition of the AB Afrikpreneur that rewards young African entrepreneurs took place last night at the Écran Géant – Cinéma Hall ( Eden Douala). Organised by a young team of Dynamic Cameroonians Arrey Bate and Rabiatou Queen (Co-Founder).
The event was scheduled to kick off at 5Pm (Red carpet) and to end at 9Pm. I wasn’t there at the time it actually started, so I met it already ongoing, so I missed some moments. The hall is a cinema hall, so it was really Spacey and just ok for the turn up. The Attendance was worth the hype if I should say the least.
The stage which was professionally handled by Stanley and Faith Tatah, had some adorable moments which kept the attendees entertained during the long night. The team did all possible to stay within the time and not exceed, but they couldn’t achieve that with the several number of awards that had to go out.
I got to the hall at the time when Ngong Sandra Nyangha and her colleague, were doing a spoken poetry presentation. This was one of the high moments of the night. The delivered a very towering presentation and many couldn’t really resist the passion and energy invested in their craft.
There were noticeable performances from artists like One Touch, Lexy, Divine Princess and Blossom Essomba. Blossom is the one who stole the night for me. The little girl mounted the stage in a calm manner but seemingly took everyone unawares. Her courage and delivery was creatively engaging, but I feel like there is a lot of work to be done with her, like culturing her content, but she’s one to watch out for.
The night was progressive, though the DJ decided to stand out too in a very boring way, frustrating the hosts from time to time, spending some quiet time on his phone while doing his job, and you can guess the outcome…
Three shortlisted ladies who took part in an entrepreneurial contest powered by BRIGHT FUTURE FOUNDATION (BFF) had the chance to win the 200k cash price which was won by Abigail Kims with JS Nabih and Miss Lum as runners up. All the ladies did great with their presentations but I guess Abigail won the hearts of the jury.
The organizers had to grab the mic on stage, and this delegation was headed by Rabiatou who did excuse the crowd that his partner Arrey Bate, couldn’t make it to the event for reasons beyond control. She had little to say, but was very motivational while urging many to capitalize on the opportunity to Network.
Moments later, a message from Arrey Bate – The founder, was projected and the latter did hint that he caught COVID-19 and was quarantined out of the country and though he was recovering, he wouldn’t want to risk the lives of others, though he was not going to make it, he did trust the team he had left behind.
Amongst many awards of the night which are worthy of mention are the honorarium awards handed over to legendary entrepreneurs who stood out in Cameroon like Pa Young who’s of late memory, the brain behind Polytechnic Bambui and Young Sports Academy.
The next award would go to Salatiel for his contributions to the entertainment industry and a mile stone that broke opportunities open for the entertainment industry after his collaboration with Beyonce.
Everyone might not have left the event ground happy, may be because they didn’t win an award, but the initiative of trying to award entrepreneurs which hardly comes by in the industry is worth applauding. Cooperate and financial institutions amongst many were honored and this is impressive.
The award show rounded off a few hours after he anticipated end time (9Pm) with a stage takeover display by Witty Minstrel who moved most people from their seats, who would dance their way out of the hall with his “Be Proud” croon.
While a few lows could be highlighted per say as all wasn’t perfect, all that ends well, is well! About whether awards given out were genuine or not, it’s not in my position to say with simple assumptions, but most Nomination categories were tight and quite competitive, most of the nominated are evidently hardworking, and again, it was all about votes, and anyone could have won.
