A strong desire to recognise and honour women of and from Africa for their resourcefulness, hard work and creativity led serial entrepreneur Sam Onigbanjo to set up the annual Women4Africa Awards.

Sam Onigbanjo first entered the world of entertainment in 1995, at a time when the Black UK scene was still very much led by the West Indian diaspora.  He left the sector in 1998 to re-emerge in 2010 with some exciting African-led projects.

Ahead of the 2013 Women4Africa Awards to be held in London, ReConnect Africa spoke to Sam about this event and the other Africa related projects that he has spearheaded in the UK.

ReConnect Africa (RCA): What is your main profession and what has been your motivation for setting up Women4Africa Awards?

Sam Onigbanjo: I am a professional Marketer, and Business Consultant.  I am also a long standing Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the former Vice Chairman of Nigerians in the Diaspora.

My passion is for Africa; I love things that are pro-Africa. My wife Tola and I planned and anchored the first ever Africa Fashion Week London, along with other partners, and quickly moved on to form the Nigerian Entertainment and Lifestyle Awards, as well as Women4Africa. Women4Africa was established by me and Tola, as her passion is supporting women’s issues.

So really, we set up Women4Africa as a way to saying thank you to our wonderful, beautiful African sisters and to celebrate the best of African women.

RCA: What are some of the award categories that the event will recognise?

Sam Onigbanjo: We will be celebrating 14 categories in all, including Best Mother/Grandmother, Motivational Personality, Business Woman, and Inspirational Woman.

RCA: You have also been instrumental in setting up the Nigerian Entertainment and Lifestyle Awards.  What was the rationale for that project? 

Sam Onigbanjo: Well I’m a serial Entrepreneur! I love entertainment and lifestyle issues and I noticed that we have a huge and growing population in the UK, but lack sufficient avenues to say thank you. I know that a truly first-class award is a great thank you opportunity!

RCA: What are some of the challenges you have encountered in putting your ideas into action?

Sam Onigbanjo:Dealing with a lack of belief is always the challenge any business encounters, and from different levels of society. It’s like an invisible wall of resistance, but Faith always tears it down.

Once you have people’s buy-in, they release money to help with sponsorship, and people will spread the word better than the most expensive marketing campaign.

RCA: What advice can you offer to other Africans in the Diaspora who have an idea but don’t know how to market it or find support?

Sam Onigbanjo: The first thing you must always do is to identify the value in your idea. If you can not identify a value, then the market won’t.

Secondly, recognise that things always change, so don’t feel obligated to stick to one thing, but be prepared to change your mind if needs be. Thirdly, as much as possible, get a good coach.  He or she will save you a lot of heartache, time and money. I’ve run my business in London since 2002, so I think I know a thing or two.

An eloquent speaker, and business facilitator, Sam is always accessible on LinkedIn “Sam Onigbanjo”, Twitter “sammiedollar” and Email Sam@women4africa.com.