The African Creative Exhibition and Awards 2021 would never be forgotten in a hurry. Although there were a few bumps along the way, it was filled with pleasant surprises. Before we get to the bumps and the surprises, let’s break down the process for becoming the winner.

Nominations.

The nominations for the ACE Awards 2021 opened to the general public on the 30^th of August 2021 and was announced on social media via the official Instagram page – @ace_awards. An activity schedule was put out, outlining the processes and what to expect.

Members, followers, friends and family [excluding the organizers and her workers] were allowed to nominate creative entrepreneurs for 15 different categories. This ran for 4 weeks. The nominations ended on the 26^th of September. By the 27^th of September, the organizers began collating the results. Mind you the rules were spelt out clearly, which are:

1. You can nominate more than 1 creative for a category
2. The nominees with the highest votes, move on to the next round – Top 5
3. By submitting an entry, the entrant agrees to accept the terms and conditions as listed in the submission form.
4. The entrant also agrees that the project is eligible for entry.
5. The entrant also understands that the entry products are made-in-Nigeria or made-in-Africa.

The top 5 nominees were announced on the 4^th of October. And on the 5^th [the very next day], the voting for the top 3 commenced. People were expected to vote for the top 5 that was announced, while the top 5 nominees were also expected to get their 1-minute pitch ready for submission.

FAQs regarding this was put out on the official Instagram page of the ACE Awards. The voting ended on the 12^th of October.

The top 3 were announced on the 14^th of October and the nominees were expected to submit their 1-minute pitch video that same day.

Then comes the Judges.

It was announced that 3 judges would deliberate and pick the winners for each category based off on the top 3 nominees. The Judges are:

1. Lanre Adisa [CEO Noah’s Ark]
2. Yetunde Aina [Founder Jadeas Trust]
3. Lanre Basamta [Group Head, Mobile Financial Services, Interswitch Group]

The Nominees’ business was judged based on:

• Impact: Is your business demonstrating some impact already in the economy?
• Job Creation: Has the business created some jobs and has the potential to create more high-quality jobs?
• Quality of Work: Does the business show great quality and competence to compete globally?
• Customer Satisfaction: Is the company socially present and accepted by consumers?
• Scalability: Does the company already earn revenues and does it have the potential to scale.
• 1-minute pitch video.

All of these can be seen on the website: https://aceawardsafrica.com/guidelines/

The nominees were also sent emails and messages.

The judging process took 3 hours and 45 minutes, with the judges deliberating and watching 45 entries. They were deliberate, impartial, fair and objective. All that was left was collating the scores and results, which was then announced during the ACE Awards – 29^th of October.

And there you have it! The process of becoming the winner for the 15 different categories at the ACE Awards 2021. It was not a small feat! Congratulations to all the winners and all who made it to each stage. We celebrate you.

Tune in next time, where I discuss the bumps and surprises at the ACE Awards. You’re going to love it.