London, UK October 2023 

Baroness Patricia Scotland, Commonwealth Secretary General,  June Sarpong, OBE and Afrobeats pioneer DJ Abrantee all set to be honoured at this year’s GUBA AWARDS 

• Awards founded by Lady Dentaa Amoateng, MBE, return to the UK for the first time in four years

• Ceremony to be held at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, on November 5th

• The theme of this year’s awards is ‘Honouring Beacons of Excellence and Inspiration’

Commonwealth Secretary General Baroness Patricia Scotland, TV presenter and author June Sarpong and Afrobeats pioneer DJ Abrantee, are among the glittering names being honoured when the GUBA Awards make a triumphant return to the UK next month, with a glittering ceremony at Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane.

Founded in 2009, the GUBA Awards are now celebrating their 14th year of honouring the achievements of the global African diaspora. 

The 2023 GUBA Awards aim to pay tribute to heroes and heroines under the theme ‘Honouring Beacons of Excellence and Inspiration.’ Those set to be recognised at this years awards include: 

• Secretary-General of the Commonwealth The Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC, 
• Presenter and former director of Creative Diversity at the BBC June Sarpong OBE

• Former NBA player and founder of sportswear company Actively Black, Lanny Smith 
• Afrobeats pioneer and Capital Xtra DJ Abrantee

This year’s ceremony will be hosted by TV presenter Paul Brunson, relationship expert on Celebs Go Dating and Married at First Sight and Anita Erskine, a Ghanaian media personality, entrepreneur and advocate. 

The GUBA Awards, founded by Lady Dentaa Amoateng MBE, a prominent UK-based Ghanaian TV personality, held their inaugural event in London in October 2009. Notable past award recipients include esteemed figures such as award-winning recording artist Stormzy, politician Lord Paul Boateng and Grammy-Award winner Anjelique Kido.

Lady Dentaa President, and CEO of GUBA Enterprises, added: “Over the past thirteen years, the GUBA Awards have grown immensely, expanding across three continents. It is truly special to be back in London and to celebrate these incredible recipients who really are excellent, inspiring individuals and role-models – everything that the GUBA Awards celebrate.”

Initially established to acknowledge the remarkable contributions of British-Ghanaians, the event has now been hosted in various international locations, including the United States in 2019, Ghana in 2021, and Rwanda in 2022. 

Lady Dentaa revealed, “GUBA stands for Grow, Unite, Build Africa. We seek to reward and celebrate excellence and innovation of African individuals and organisations throughout the diaspora that work towards the advancement, empowerment and progression of the African community. It is a delight to see this come to life with the worldwide popularity of African exports like Afrobeats and now Amapiano, proving Africa to be a cultural and economic powerhouse.”

The GUBA AWARDS 2023 will take place on Sunday 5th November 2023
at the GROSVENOR HOUSE HOTEL, Park Lane, London, W1K 7TN.

For media accreditation and enquiries contact Lee Pinkerton at ESPR on: Lee@es-pr.co.uk or on 07985 446 280.

The red carpet will open from 5.30pm. 

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Notes to Editors:

Additional Information on the honorees on the night 

• GUBA’s  Exemplary Woman in Leadership Award goes to The Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC Secretary-General of the Commonwealth The Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC, a British diplomat, barrister, politician, and serving as the sixth Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations. Patricia was the first black woman to be appointed Deputy High Court Judge, and also the founder of Eliminate Domestic Violence Global Foundation.
• GUBA’s Excellence  in the Media Award goes to June Sarpong OBE– June is a British television presenter, broadcaster, co-founder of the Women: Inspiring & Enterprise (WIE) Network, entrepreneur and author. June is the former BBC Director of Creative Diversity.

• GUBA’s Innovator of the Year is  Lanny Smith –  Lanny is the founder of the sportswear company Actively Black which offers activewear and accessories for men, women, and children. The brand’s roots date back to 2009 when he sustained a knee injury that thwarted his NBA dream. The injury came just one month after he signed a contract with the Sacramento Kings. He, therefore, reinvented himself as an entrepreneur and decided to venture into the apparel industry. In 2020, he launched Actively Black following the death of George Floyd.
• GUBA Trailblazer Award goes to DJ Abrantee – Abrantee has established himself as one of the most recognizable voices and personalities on the Uk and African music scene and pioneer of the Afrobeats genre across UK and the world. In 2005, Abrantee joined Choice FM (now CapitalXtra) and in April 2011 launched the world’s first “Afrobeats” radio show on. He is also one of the Founders of Afrobeats Live, the UK’s leading, successful and longest running Afrobeats Music events. In August 2017, Abrantee suffered a serious stroke which caused him mobility and speech impairments but has made a remarkable recovery.

Additional Information on GUBA

• The GUBA Awards, an initiative of the enterprise, is instituted to celebrate, acknowledge, and support businesses and individuals in Africa and the African diaspora. The GUBA Awards began in 2009 in the UK and have been held in the United States, Ghana, and Rwanda.
• Designed to highlight the most inspirational and trailblazing individuals within Africa and its diaspora community, the GUBA Awards continue to gain endorsements from high-profile figures such as H.E. Nana Akufo-Addo (President of Ghana), H.E. Jean-Claude Kassi Brou (The Former President of the ECOWAS Commission), and more. 
• Past winners include Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Director General of the World Trade Organization), Dr. Natalia Kanem (Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund), Dr. Diane Karusisi (CEO of the Bank of Kigali), Her Excellency Epsy Campbell Barr (former Vice President of Costa Rica), Sir Sam Jonah (Executive Chairman, Jonah Capital), Cherie Blair (Barrister, Writer), Patrick Awuah (Founder of Ashesi University), and Harvey Mason Jnr (CEO of the Recording Academy), among others.
• The theme of this year’s GUBA Awards is “HONOURING BEACONS OF EXCELLENCE AND INSPIRATION.” The presence of esteemed guests and dignitaries at the launch is sure to inspire the nominees and attendees and contribute to the overall success of the event.