Dr Duffour on stage for his award
The second annual Exclusive Men of the Year (EMY) Africa Awards took place Saturday night at the Gold Coast Kempinski Hotel in Accra, with Dr Kwabena Duffour emerging as the Ultimate Man of The Year, the biggest award on the night.
Awards were presented in different categories to honour astute and distinguished gentlemen who have within the last year contributed immensely to the development of Ghana in various fields.
Dr Duffour is a former Minister of Finance, a former Governor of the Bank of Ghana and founder and chairman of HODA Holdings, a business entity comprising insurance, banking, real estates, farming, mining and media.
Dr Duffour was at the event in person to pick his award.
The strictly men’s award ceremony also had a woman winner in the person of Dr Mrs Ellen Hagan, a human resource practitioner with 25 years experience. She took home the Ultimate Woman of The Year Award.
Daniel Soboh, Executive Director of EMYs, later told NEWS-ONE that the Ultimate Woman of The Year Award was a complimentary award. “We added it to the awards because men do not leave in isolation. We can’t leave without women, hence the need to honour a woman,” he explained.
Ex-President John Agyekum Kuffuor received the Statesman Leadership Award, with Lifetime Achievement Award going to Sir Sam Jonah, CEO of Jonah Capital.
Other awards went to personalities such as Fadda Dickson of Despite Group of Companies who won Media Excellence Award. The Fashion Designer of The Year Award also went to Abrantie The Gentleman, who has no doubt built a brand over the past year.
Sports icon Abedi Pele also received the Sports Legend Award for his contributions towards sports. The Men’s Group of The Year went to Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship International Ghana, while Seth Kwame Boateng also adjudged the Man of the Year Communications.
Special Recognition Awards in Finance, Real Estate, Business Innovation and Shipping Logistic & Outstanding CSR went to Dr Nii Kotei, CEO of Groupe Ideal, Mr Gideon Ayiku Akrofi, Nana Yaw Appiah and Mr Daniel McCauley of MacDan Group of Companies respectively.
The Man of The Year Style Award (Most Fashionable Man of The Year) also went to Kofi Okyere Darko, while Joe Mettle received the Man of The Year Entertainment Award.
Dr Henry Seidu, Mr Adebola William and Mr Tony Elumelu also won the Man of Courage Award, African Young Achiever Award and Man of The Year Africa Award respectively.
Freddy Meiway and Osibisa who brought their years of experience to bear on stage with their performances at the award ceremony were also honoured with African Entertainment Legends Award respectively.
This year’s EMYs is the second of its kind organised by Exclusive Men’s Magazine and Carbon AV. It was to celebrate excellence and also to inspire the young generation of men to aspire to reach the heights of the astute gentlemen who are celebrated every year at the awards.
There were also amazing performances from other musicians, including Efya and Irene Logan, who shared the stage for the first time in many years after their split.
The event was hosted by Kafui Dey and Joselyn Dumas.
By Francis Addo (Twitter: @fdee50 Email: fdee500@yahoo.com )