The much-anticipated Finland African Diaspora Awards (FADA) took place last Saturday, July 1 in Helsinki. The glamourized event was attended by the crème de la crème of the African diaspora in Finland. Two embassies were present at the event which aimed at taking the African diaspora farther and they are; the embassy of Morocco in Finland and the Nigerian embassy in Sweden.
Stylist Effi Bangura from Turku. She is the judge of the most stylish person during the red carpet
The founder of the awards, Mr Obi-West Utchaychukwu stated that about 300 people attended the sold-out event. “We arranged 290 seats and surprisingly, i discovered that many people were standing at different corners of the hall, they had no seat.” The hall was filled to the brim, he told a reporter.
The event which was characterized by glitz and glam had more than 30 nationalities in attendance which included the Arabs, Somalis, Finns, etc. The red carpet session was streamed live on JC Radio station. The embassy of Morocco in Finland is the major sponsor of the event.
Gildas Willy the most stylish person for the night.
The biggest awards gala for the African diaspora had 85 nominees for it’s 21 categories and four other non-voting categories. The founder, Mr Obi-West opined that his organization will bring a popular Afrobeats artist to Finland during the second edition slated for 2024.
Cross section of the event
The FADA AWARDS WINNERS LIST
1. AFRO CLUB OF THE YEAR
a. Urban Nights
b. Fontana Afro Nightclub (Winner)
c. We Love Afrobeats
d. Afro Mix Lahti
2. BAND OF THE YEAR
a. Mbacke Niang
b. Cheick Cissokho
c. Frankosun And The Family (Winner)
d. Es-ow And The Ridial Band
3 EVENT DECORATOR OF THE YEAR
a. Uusia Events
b. Carodeco
c. Ify Tanskanen
d. Decoration Finland (Winner)
4 CAKE DESIGNER OF THE YEAR
a. Cake by Marwa
b. TEE’S CAKE (Winner)
c. Angel’s Kitchen
d. Betty’s Cakes
e. Kdream Bakes
5 HAIRSTYLIST OF THE YEAR
a. FM Hairstyles
b. Dezjoi Beauty Palace (Winner)
c. Next Century Fashion
d. Fashion Hair Helsinki
6 VIDEOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
a. Boagraphy
b. Mayasi Videography
c. Great Video Entertainment (Winner)
d. Spytech Videography
e. Theo Keys
7 PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
a. Photos By Bluemonde
b. Hope Valley Photography
c. Studio Pee (Winner)
d. KAPS Studio
e. Spytech Photography
8 FASHION DESIGNER OF THE YEAR
a. Owusu Brand
b. F’Joy Couture (Winner)
c. KC Lawrence
d. Remix Gear
e. Offline Mode
9 MODEL OF THE YEAR
a. Mbargan Sene
b. Ella Staff
c. Aja Daffeh
d. Cico Toure (Winner)
10 BEST RAP ARTIST
a. Papipike
b. Hassan Maikal (Winner)
c. Mad Boi Ali
11 BEST AFRICAN DJ
a. DJ Joe
b. DJ Nestar
c. DJ Nice
d. DJ Dalo
e. DJ Cliff (Winner)
12 CHOREOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
a. Gody Otieno
b. ASVAGE (Winner)
c. Malick Ndiaye
d. Ndjara Rasolo
13 MC/HOST OF THE YEAR
a. Evans Andrew
b. Ebun Kivinen (Winner)
c. Mad Ice
d. MC MEGADON
14 AFRO MUSIC PROMOTER OF THE YEAR
a. Menard Mponda
b. DJ NICE (Winner)
c. De Barons
d. Francis Erharuyi
15 BEST AFRICAN COMMUNITY
a. Think Africa ry
b. Anambra State Association ry (Winner)
c. Kefiso ry
16 ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
a. Samppa Kamara
b. Linda Omodara
c. Aminkeng Atabong Alemanji (Winner)
d. Eunice Ego Njoku
17. SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER OF THE YEAR
a. Yoruba Pikin
b. Bleetary Travels
c. Cooking With Nonsi
d. Daniel Kalejaiye
18 ARTIST OF THE YEAR
a. Mad Ice
b. Yeboyah (Winner)
c. Sofy Kap
d. Papipike
19 SPORTS ACHIEVEMENT
a. Team Algeria
b. FC Global Turku
c. Afro Foot Club (Winner)
d. Fiifi Aidoo
20 AFROBEATS ARTISTS OF THE YEAR
a. Krizmoni
b. BlaqBoy Junior
c. Mviris (Winner)
d. Kennystar
21 AFRICAN ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR
a. Edem Agbekey-Taylor
b. Paco Ndiaye
c. Lincoln Kayiwa
d. Elizabeth Mokkonen
e. Fadumo Ali (Winner)
Non-voting Categories
1. Business Person of the Year – Prince Kenturky Ume
2. Best Cultural Group – CAMFIN
3. Community Leader of the Year – Patrick Osei
4. Most Outstanding Businessman – Chief Anthony Nwafidelie
