Gaseangwe Balopi wins Miss Africa Calabar 2017

Miss Africa Calabar is one of the beauty pageants established in recent times. Before now, women were neglected and relegated; however, the practice is gradually being reversed globally by the elite in Calabar to again gain some prominence.
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Miss Africa beauty pageants, are among the activities designed to empower young woman and give them a voice through beauty competition. Winner of the Miss Africa beauty pageant is awesomely awarded and accorded respect and recognition.

Me preparing for the epic event

Women within the approved age range are allowed to register and participate in this contest designed for women in Africa. The organisers in various countries in Africa do organise primaries where they will select the best candidate to represent the various countries during the contest.

The 2016 event was hosted by the Executive Governor of Cross River state; Senator Ben Ayade and also feature celebrities like Kiss Daniel, Victoria Kimani, Kate Henshaw, Dija, Uti Nwachukwu, to name a few.

Out of the expected 36 countries 27 contestants graced the epic event in Calabar for the second edition of the Cross River State Miss Africa Climate Change Beauty Pageant. The beauty pageant which is the initiative of the state governor, Prof. Ben Ayade as earlier mentioned is a platform aimed at creating awareness about the effect of climate change and its attendant impact for this year.

Some of the contestants at TINAPA Lake Resort, express their enthusiasm for the event while at the same time higlighting the devastating effects of climate change in their separate countries. Miss Fatima Murtar, a Moslem contestant from Somalia who sounded very optimistic of winning the crown said: “I want to do something different contrary to my belief.” She explained that “We are already experiencing the effect of climate change in Somalia with deadly drought all over and I want to use this platform if I eventually win to educate our people, especially those in the affected regions and see how we could bring reliev to them through empowerment with the support of international bodies.”

Miss Hellen Itivita from South Sudan, who was awed by the beautiful Calabar scenery said: “It’s nice to be in Nigeria finally. I have been listening to their music, watched their movies but I have never been here but today, I thank God I made it here. It’s such a beautiful place to be. On her chances of winning the crown, Hellen said: “I will stay positive. We all know Sudan is a war torn country and if I win this pageant I will work with the International Organizations there to preach more on the effect of climate change and environment.”

Gaseangwe Balopi, 21 from Botswana some hours ago has just been crowned the most beautiful lady in Africa's second edition of the Miss Africa beauty pageant hosted by the Cross River Government. Balopi emerged the 2017 African queen at the keenly contested event after a fourth round of appearances in different attires by 25 contestants.
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The event took full swing at 10.45 pm on Wednesday night at the Calabar International Convention Centre and ended around 3 a.m. on Thursday morning. She is to take home $35,000 and a Ford Edge Sport Utility Vehicle as her star prize.

Miss Rwanda, Fiona Naringwa and Miss Luyolo Mngonyama of South Africa were first and second runners-up. Naringwa will take home $10,000 and Mngonyama $5,000.

Gov. Ben Ayade said the theme of the event `Climate Change and Migration’ was chosen to create awareness on the need to protect the environment and caution youths against illegal migration.
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Neurite Mendes from Angola’s won the maiden edition of Miss Africa Calabar in 2016!
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