The African Social Enterprise Fund
The creative industries in Africa especially around manufacturing and fashion have the potential to be game-changing on both social and environmental fronts. The ASEF was launched in London on December 3, 2016 at an Award Ceremony hosted by Sotheby’s and Arts Global. Prominent leaders, investors and creative industry pioneers gathered at Sotheby's to celebrate creative African talent and to launch three ASEF awards in Fashion, Music and the Arts.
We are delighted to introduce you to the winners of the 2016-17 ASEF Awards.
“When something is this good, there is no point in writing long stories. I will just say "Thank you for helping me find myself!” This is the beginning of something huge! I won’t disappoint.”
Bernie Seb
Bernie Seb
Winner ASEF Fashion Award
Bernadin Segbo (Bernie Seb) is a 31 year old from Burkina Faso, now based in Paris. A former KPMG auditor and chef, Bernie is the Founder of fashion company De La Sebure. He won over our interview panel with his creativity and business acumen, as well as his socially and environmentally minded approach to fashion, and his determination to achieve positive social change.
Under the Award, he has received:
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Professional mentoring from Industry leaders
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Two week international leadership training in Italy
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Attendance of Short Course on Sustainable Fashion at Central St Martin’s, London
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Spoken about his work at the Fashion Africa Conference
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Received a £3,000 cash Award to buy production equipment
Thanks to the Award Bernie:
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Employs 26 people in his Burkina Faso Workshop.
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Has revolutionised production of fabric by investing in a professional loom.
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Is gaining brand recognition and recently had a pop up store in Paris’s prestigious Galleries Lafayette and been interviewed on France Radio London about the ASEF.
“The award opened doors for me, it had me leave my small comfort zone and enter a bigger and better place. My dreams are coming true! The award has helped me in so many ways. I'm a better musician now because of the opportunity the Award has given me.”- IDYL
Daniel Diongoli
Winner ASEF Music Award
Daniel Diangoli, stage name IDYL) is from Bayelsa State, Nigeria. He released his debut single “Turn Me On” in May 2015 which was highly acclaimed and marked the beginning of a fruitful musical career. He has since released a number of new tracks which have proven his versatility as an artist, seamlessly moving from traditional instrumentals and native dialect to smooth Afropop consistently impressing audiences with his vocal range.
Daniel was encouraged, empowered and enabled by his ASEF mentors to apply to Nigeria’s most prestigious music competition –The Voice Nigeria. In September 2017, he was crowned the winner after receiving over 10 million public votes. His prize includes a Recording Contract with Universal Music Group
His award included:
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Mentoring
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Trainingby music professionals
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Musical tuition at Nigeria’s premier musical academy, the Music Society of Nigeria (MUSON).
The Award is held in Partnership with The Roger Hammond Memorial Trust Fund
“I‘ve grown so much from this experience and learned so much about myself and my own capabilities. It’s very important for young artists to do something like this and to challenge themselves.”
Fulufhelo Mobadi
Fulufhelo Mobadi
Winner ASEF Visual Arts Award
Fulufhelo Mobadi is a 31 year old Artist from South Africa. She is a graduate of the Photojournalism and Documentary Photography Programme at Market Photo Workshop 2012 and has a Diploma in Art and Design from Central Johannesburg College. Her personal work consists of street photography and arranged portraits.
Fulufhelo has been supported throughout the Award with mentoring, leadership training, and funding for art materials. She completed a six week Artist In Residency programme in Nairobi, Kenya, where she worked with our partner organisation Access AFYA, and ran community workshops with young mothers in the slums of Mukuru. In addition to creating her own body of work, Fulufhelo produced and curated a public exhibition entitled, “To the Women I have Never Met”. The exhibition provided a unique and sensitive reportage of life in Nairobi’s slums from a female perspective. It showcased 400 images of women’s lives in Mukuru, taken by workshop participants, and aims to highlight the challenges they face, particularly issues of sexual health, female empowerment and young mothers.
She produced her debut solo exhibition "In-Between" in London in December 2017.She spoke about her work and the impact of the ASEF at an Industry Preview in Mayfair on 5th December 2017.
Robert Muñuku
Runner Up ASEF Visual Arts Award
Robert Muñuku is a 33 year old visual artist, writer & independent filmmaker from Nairobi, Kenya. Mũnũku is also the Founder of Mau Mau Collective which is an organization that seeks to create a strong network of independent visual artists, filmmakers & performing artists on the continent with the shared goal of independence and art-driven, community-based creative education.
Since founding the Mau Mau Collective in October 2015, Robert has brought together over 200 African Artists to champion the use of the Arts for Social Change. Robert says
The arts-music, traditional art, graffiti, digital art, film, poetry, spokenword, photography, literature & much more- still occupy an emasculated space in our country and it is often the case that those who bear these abilities never get an opportunity to transform their lives or their communities. This much coveted ability is what some call the 'creative economy' and is one of the core tenets of our organization. Mau Mau is in the process of demystifying the arts and re-calibrating the system allowing access to creative resources from being a reserve of the few privileged to a right for all.