Pageantry in Africa has evolved from being a simple beauty contest to a powerful platform for cultural celebration, empowerment, and tourism promotion.
Across the continent, pageants have become more than just showcases of physical beauty; they have embraced the richness of African traditions, values, and heritage while also creating opportunities for young men and women to become ambassadors for their countries.
African pageants, whether national or continental, often spotlight the diverse and vibrant cultures of the continent. From traditional attire to showcasing local customs and languages, these competitions provide a platform to share Africa’s cultural richness with a global audience.
Events like Miss and Mr Tourism Africa exemplify how pageantry can be used to bring together nations in a display of unity and cultural pride. Participants, representing various countries, highlight the uniqueness of their national traditions while fostering a spirit of pan-Africanism.
This celebration of diversity helps promote a positive image of Africa, challenging stereotypes and showing the world the continent’s modernity and deep-rooted heritage.
The highly anticipated Miss and Mr Tourism Africa competition has officially commenced, with stakeholders in the tourism sector urging stronger collaboration between government and private entities to promote the continent’s cultural and tourism appeal.
At the press presentation and Saching ceremony of the 2024 delegates of the Miss and Mr Tourism Africa pageant in Lagos, Santiago Robert, President of Miss and Mr. Tourism Africa, emphasised that the responsibility of promoting the culture and tourism of a country cannot be done by an individual alone but a collaboration between government and private organisations.
“We hope that government will wake up to the call of prioritising tourism, working hand in hand with private stakeholders to promote the nation’s tourism and market it to the international scene,” he said.
Robert, speaking on the upcoming tourism pageantry, which would be held on October 1 in Lagos, said that this year is the debut of Mr Tourism Africa pageant.
He said: “The delegates were from African countries such as Guinea, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, and others.
“This year, we are hosting the first-ever continental male and female pageant on one stage and we have also increased our price pack courtesy of our sponsors to make sure that the event gets better in terms of price compensation for the winners.
“The event would also be held in an African-centered designation and we are also curating original sounds for the production.”
He noted that winners would be given $2000, an all-expense paid trip to Maldives, and would feature at the Milan Fashion Week 2025 in Paris. The runners-up will get prizes from sponsors.
“For the male winner, while talks are still ongoing to increase his prize, he would be going home with $1000 from the event host.”
Kazeem Balogun, Director of Media and Communications, African Tourism Board, while appealing to the government to do more, noted that tourism has increasingly proven to be a good business investment contributing greatly to the world economy.
He said that with an enabling environment for tourism to thrive, the country would benefit in various ways with the sector.
In addition, he said African women have the talent and creativity that the tourism pageantry wants to showcase to the world.
For Rita Opiah, General Manager, Park Inn by Radisson Hotel, Lagos As such, we know that whoever is crowned winner this year, will be a young and dynamic leader with a great opportunity to build a network of other young female leaders in her community and across the African continent.
“Through her insightful experiences via this platform and as an ambassador of tourism, we know that she will show forth to the world, Africa’s rich cultural and natural heritage with authenticity.
“Our culture is inclusive, and we are proud to support a platform open to young and growing women especially black and from our African communities,” she said.
