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Annie Grace Mutambu

Sophia Chese-Msowa Arts Correspondent
The reigning Miss Zimbabwe Annie Grace Mutambu who took part in the Miss Africa continent on Saturday made it to the top six at this inaugural pageant. Ghanaian Rebecca Asamoah was crowned the first Miss Africa Continent. Zambian Michelo Malambo walked away as the first princess, while South Africa’s Jemimah Kandimiri was crowned second princess.

The finalists were drawn from an original list of 40 contestants from across the continent in the inaugural pageant that was held at Johannesburg’s Gold Reef City casino on Saturday night.

In an interview, Mutambu who arrived in the country yesterday said she was proud of representing her country in the Miss Africa Continent. “I am very happy that I managed to be the first to represent Zimbabwe in the Miss Africa Continent pageant which was launched this year.

“I did my best and I managed to finish in the top six and I am proud of that,” she said. The reigning queen said she will now be focusing on her education. “I am going to be putting a break on pageants for the meantime and focus more on my education. I am doing accounting under the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, (ACCA ),” she said.

The pageant is the brain child of South African film producer Neo Mashishi, who says it is aimed to empower young African women. Meanwhile, the winner Asamoah walked away with a grant to study business management at Monash University in Johannesburg.

In the weeks running up to the event, the 12 finalists embarked on a series of pre-pageant activities, including showing their culinary skills in cooking traditional meals from their native countries.

Ultimately, the organisers hope to involve the continental body, the African Union, so that the winner can play a role in uplifting Africa and spearhead campaigns to fight Africa’s woes such as malaria, poverty and xenophobia.