GUBA Awards 2023: Margaret Bushby Receives Woman Of Spirit Award
Ghanaian-born publisher Margaret Bushby, editor, writer, and broadcaster, won the Woman of Spirit GUBA Award and called it a “great honour”. The award was a recognition of her many years of service to the publishing industry in Britain.
She and Clive Allison founded the London-based publishing house Allison and Busby in the 1960s. The 2023 GUBA Awards took place on Sunday, November 5th, in London, and award winners included June Sarpong, DJ Abrantee, and Baroness Patricia Scotland at the first UK ceremony in four years.
This year’s spectacular GUBA (Grow, Unite, Build Africa) Awards celebrated the excellence of Africa and its diverse diaspora. After the awards were a huge success around the world, the organisers decided to host the ceremony in London, UK, at the prestigious Grosvenor Hotel. Guests included MPs Dawn Butler and Bell Riberio-Addy, as well as Top Boy actor Michael Ward.
The theme this year was “Honouring Beacons of Excellence and Inspiration,” and celebrities Anita Erskine from Ghana and relationship expert Paul Brunson welcomed the winners to the stage. Several notable people, including Commonwealth Secretary-General Baroness Patricia Scotland, TV host, author, and former BBC diversity lead June Sarpong, and Afrobeats pioneer DJ Abrantee, received awards that night.
June Sarpong, who has been a recognisable face on TV for more than ten years, received the Media Excellence Awards. Sarpong is a former panellist on the popular daytime show Loose Women, as well as a TV host and director of creative diversity at the BBC.
The Innovator of the Year award was presented to Lanny Smith, the former NBA player and founder of the sportswear company Actively Black. Baroness Patricia Scotland received the Exemplary Woman in Leadership Award, while the Exceptional Leadership in Finance Award was bestowed upon the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth and Afua Kyei, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director of the Bank of England.
