By Chioma Gabriel

The city of Houston will experience a paradigm shift when African game-changers and high-flyers from around the globe converge for the maiden edition of the Global African Diaspora Awards (GADA) on Saturday, September 21, 2024, in Houston, Texas, USA.

According to the statement on the awards website, the awards aim to recognize and celebrate the remarkable achievements of the global African diaspora. The event brings together the crème de la crème of the global African diaspora, those who are committed to changing the narrative and making our voices heard in their chosen fields.

The awardees of African backgrounds are drawn from different countries, irrespective of their color, race, and culture. The African diaspora has played a vital role in contributing to global development, and the GADA Awards are a tribute to these immense contributions.

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The founder and executive producer of the award, Mr. Obi-West Utchaychukwu, opined that through recognition and celebration, GADA awards aim to highlight the significance of the game-changers’ involvement in shaping a better future for both Africa and the world at large. Through this collective recognition, we aim to build bridges and strengthen the bonds that connect us all, he added. The GADA Awards have thirty categories, among which are: Attorney of the Year, IT Professional of the Year, Realtor of the Year, Brand of the Year, Young Achiever, Political Icon of the Year, Healthcare Personality of the Year, etc. The red carpet will be hosted by Chinyere Christy Ibekwe, a fashion icon and an ex-professional basketballer while Laura Onyeneho a seasoned journalist who reports for the Houston Defender Network will join Charles Chukwuka Udechukwu as hosts of the event.

Afrobeats artist Jaywon will perform at the awards night.

The award will honor Africans in the diaspora who continue to promote and champion Africa’s interests on the global stage. Diaspora Glitz Magazine, a high-end Afrocentric magazine, is the official producer of the GADA Awards.

Obi-West, the publisher of Diaspora Glitz Magazine, founded the GADA Awards upon his arrival in the United States from Finland, where he spent 10 years. He hails from Anambra State in Nigeria but was born and raised in Benin City, Edo State. As a youth, he was interested in traveling abroad to better his indigent family’s life. He studied international relations and diplomacy and had sole courses on media. 

His penchant for the French language made him travel to Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, and from there he went to Tunisia to study the French language and basic Arabic. Obi-West left a legacy in Finland being the only publisher of an Afrocentric magazine for the African diaspora in Finland and the founder of the only beauty pageant for the African diaspora called Miss Afro Diaspora Finland. There are other remarkable events and projects tied to his brand.