Africa Youth Awards’ Prince Akpah Casts the Net Wider

Africa Youth Awards which recently recognised and celebrated the achievements of 20 exceptional young Africans under the age of 35, has extended the net wider towards appreciating the efforts of those who are aged 20 years and below.

These awards which shall run under the banner ‘20 Under 20 Young African Change Makers’ will be based on four categories which are: innovation, entrepreneurship, education and leadership.

According to pan-Africanist, Prince Akpah from Ghana, who is the founder and president of the Africa Youth Awards initiative, the 20 Under 20 Young African Change Makers Awards is part of the on-going quest to discover and celebrate young African achievers.

He said that this new initiative is meant to highlight the achievements of 20 young people aged 20 and below who are involved in activities that contribute towards creating a positive change in Africa.

Nominations for these awards will start on the 15^th of April and officially end on the 15^th of June 2015, after which the announcement of the results and packages will take place in the first week of August 2015.

Akpah said that the initiative is open to all people across the globe for them to nominate their chosen 20 Under 20 Young African Change Makers and he also highlighted that the nominations can be done through the following web link (bit.ly/20Un20).

Young Africans who are making an impact in their communities are being called upon to participate in this noble development.

“The launch of this initiative under the Africa Youth Awards umbrella is a testament that Africa has an abundance of young people struggling to make the continent a better place, and we have to be prepared to celebrate their achievements in order to spread and maintain this positive culture.” Prince Akpah said.

“I believe that we can use their stories to inspire others and make the world aware of the young and capable citizens that we have” He added.

The 20 Under 20 Awards have been inspired by the successful publication of the 20 Under 35 Africa Youth Awards list which Prince Akpah said was widely accepted.

Hollywood star Lupita Nyongo from Kenya was among the achievers on this list which included other notable young Africans such as Alvin Nyika, Sara Nana Yeboah, Cyrille Guel, Ashish Thakkar, Ola Orekunrin, Isaac Oboth, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Aya Chebbi.

“This list was positively welcomed, celebrated and received significant support across the continent after its official publication”. Said Akpah

Judges of the 20 Under 20 Young African Change Makers Awards has been drawn from the list of those who made it in the 20 Under 35 category as well as from a pool of other authoritative inspired and focussed successful young individuals.

The judges’ list includes Alvin Nyika (Zimbabwe), Ebenezer Essuman (Ghana), Cyrille Guel (Burkina Faso), Terser Adamu (Nigeria), Shriliv Mohur (Mauritius), Fabiene Kengne (Cameroon), Nuamah Sally (Ghana) and Exousia Momoh (Sierra Leone).

Prince Akpah said that in order to have a robust adjudication process which ensures the selection of the best talent from Africa, BBC producer and presenter, Ngunan Adamu will act as the patron for the year 2015.

“Ngunan will lead a panel of judges consisting widely of recognised young African achievers. Our panel will be responsible for making the decisive decision on the winners before the final list is released to the public” said Prince Akpah.

He emphasized that Africa Youth Awards will continuously pledge its support in making sure that hope is built for the future of Africa and will also lead in identifying and promoting the right people to take over the affairs of the continent.