Two years ago, Freetown hosted the African Genius Awards at Fourah Bay College. What many people may not know is that my involvement in bringing the ceremony to Sierra Leone began three years earlier, when I was still a university student building The African Dream from my bedroom with nothing more than a smartphone.

The Story Began in 2021

September 7, 2026 marks two years since Freetown hosted the African Genius Awards at Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone. The occasion was significant for Sierra Leone, but for me, it was also the culmination of a relationship and a journey that had begun several years earlier, at a time when I was still a student at Njala University and had only just started building what would later become The African Dream.

Looking back at that period, I realize that I never properly told the story of how I became connected to the African Genius Awards, how that relationship developed over time, and how a partnership that began with an unexpected email eventually resulted in my involvement in bringing the awards to Sierra Leone. The story is, in many ways, a reflection of my own journey in media and communications, but it is also a story about the power of relationships, trust, persistence and the willingness to pursue an opportunity even when you do not yet have all the resources you think you need.

The African Genius Awards, a special project of Priority Performance Projects, was launched in 2021. The inaugural edition was held on May 25, 2021, in partnership with the University of Pretoria and was hosted online via livestream. The University of Pretoria subsequently described the 2022 edition as the second annual African Genius Awards, establishing 2021 as the beginning of the awards’ journey. That was also the year I first came into contact with the organization.

Building The African Dream From My Bedroom

At the time, I was a third-year student at Njala University studying Agricultural Economics. I was also working on an idea that would eventually become The African Dream, an African media platform dedicated to telling stories about Africa, its people, achievements and possibilities.

My circumstances were very different from what they are today. I did not have an office, a computer, a communications department or a team of professionals working alongside me. In fact, I did not even have a desk or a chair in my room. I was producing my work largely from my bed, using a smartphone to research stories, write articles, communicate with sources and publish content to an audience that was gradually growing beyond Sierra Leone.

That smartphone was, for all practical purposes, my newsroom. It was my office, publishing desk, research tool and primary communication device. I had begun to discover that it was possible to build something meaningful with very limited resources if I was willing to learn, remain consistent and make the most of whatever tools were available to me.

The Email From South Africa

Then I received an email from Dr Sifiso Falala, the founder of Priority Performance Projects and the person behind the African Genius Awards.

The message came from South Africa, and because I did not know him personally, my immediate reaction was caution. I had no reason to assume that every international opportunity arriving in my inbox was legitimate, so I did what I believed was necessary: I investigated.

I researched Dr Falala. I researched Priority Performance Projects. I looked into the African Genius Awards and tried to establish whether the organization and its work were genuine.

Once I was satisfied that the opportunity was legitimate, I responded. My answer was straightforward: “Let’s do it. Let’s partner.”

At the time, I had no idea that those words would mark the beginning of a relationship that would eventually lead to one of the most significant professional experiences of my journey.

A Partnership Built on Trust

What made that initial partnership particularly meaningful was the fact that Dr Falala was willing to trust me when I was still very much at the beginning of my career. I was a young university student in Sierra Leone studying Agricultural Economics, without formal training in journalism or public relations, trying to establish an African media platform from my bedroom.

I did not have the conventional infrastructure associated with a media organization, but I had a strong belief that Africans needed to tell more of their own stories and that African excellence deserved greater visibility. Dr Falala saw something in that vision and was willing to work with me.

Over the next several years, I continued building The African Dream while expanding my work as a writer, content creator and communications professional. I wrote about African entrepreneurs, innovators, academics, changemakers and institutions, and many of the stories travelled far beyond Sierra Leone. As The African Dream grew, so did my understanding of media, storytelling, public relations and the importance of relationships.

My connection with Dr Falala and the African Genius Awards continued to develop as well, although I could not have predicted at that point that it would eventually bring the awards to my own country.

Why I Proposed Sierra Leone

That opportunity came in 2024.

Dr Falala contacted me about hosting that year’s African Genius Awards at a leading African university. One of the institutions being considered was Makerere University in Uganda. When we began discussing the possibilities, I immediately thought that Sierra Leone should be considered.

I told him we should bring the awards to Sierra Leone.

I spoke to him about Sierra Leone’s reputation for hospitality and the warmth with which Sierra Leoneans receive visitors. But my argument was not based solely on hospitality. I believed that hosting the African Genius Awards would also give Sierra Leone an opportunity to position itself within a wider continental conversation about African excellence, intellectual achievement, innovation and leadership.

It would be an opportunity not simply to host an event, but to demonstrate that Sierra Leone could be a destination for important African conversations and initiatives.

Why I Chose Fourah Bay College

My first thought for a host institution was Njala University, my alma mater. I had spent several formative years there, and naturally, I had a strong personal connection to the university. However, as I considered the significance of the African Genius Awards and what the choice of venue could communicate, I began to think that Fourah Bay College would provide a much more powerful setting.

Established in 1827, Fourah Bay College has a remarkable place in the history of African higher education. It is widely recognized as the first Western-style university in West Africa and has played a significant role in the intellectual development of the region.

Its history is deeply connected to generations of African scholars, academics, political leaders and professionals. The symbolism of bringing an awards platform dedicated to celebrating African genius to such an institution was therefore compelling.

An initiative created to recognize African excellence would be taking place at one of the continent’s historic centres of learning. For me, that connection made Fourah Bay College the natural choice.

I therefore proposed to Dr Falala that the awards be hosted at Fourah Bay College. He trusted the proposal, and what had initially been a conversation about possibilities began to develop into a concrete plan.

Turning the Idea Into a Partnership

Suggesting a venue was only the beginning. The next challenge was turning the idea into an institutional partnership.

I began reaching out to Fourah Bay College and the University of Sierra Leone, initiating conversations with the relevant leadership and administration. There were calls, meetings, discussions and engagements around the proposed partnership, the nature of the event and what would be required to make it happen.

I was involved in the process from its early stages as the relationship between the African Genius Awards and the university began to take shape.

Eventually, the partnership came together, creating the foundation for the African Genius Awards to be hosted in Sierra Leone.

But securing a partnership is only one part of bringing an event of this nature to a country. The other challenge is creating awareness and ensuring that the public understands why the event matters.

That became my next responsibility.

Taking the African Genius Awards to the Media

With the support of Sallu Kamuskay, I worked on a media and public relations campaign to build awareness around the African Genius Awards and its arrival in Sierra Leone.

I appeared on AYV’s Wake Up Sierra Leone, one of the country’s major morning television programmes, and participated in interviews with Rise Radio and Capital Radio, including an interview with Eric Kawa.

We worked to generate stories, engage journalists and communicate information about the awards, the partnership with Fourah Bay College and the broader objective of celebrating African excellence.

The campaign was designed to ensure that the African Genius Awards would not simply be an event taking place quietly in Freetown. We wanted the public to understand what was happening and why it was significant for Sierra Leone.

Media engagements around the partnership helped introduce the initiative to a wider audience, while coverage ahead of the ceremony helped create anticipation and establish the event as an important African gathering taking place in the country.

What I Learned About Public Relations

Interestingly, much of this work was still being done using the same basic tools that had helped me build The African Dream years earlier.

My smartphone remained one of my most important working tools. I used it to communicate with stakeholders, make calls, coordinate media engagements, write and distribute information, and keep the campaign moving.

There was no large public relations office behind me, no huge communications department and no massive advertising budget. There was simply a combination of relationships, communication skills, persistence, digital media and a willingness to keep working.

That experience reinforced one of the most important lessons I have learned about public relations: resources matter, but they are not the only determinants of success.

Effective communication depends heavily on relationships, credibility, narrative and the ability to communicate value. Money can provide access to advertising, but it cannot automatically create trust or persuade people to care about an idea. Those things have to be built.

September 7, 2024: The Awards Come to Freetown

Then came September 7, 2024.

The African Genius Awards was finally in Freetown.

The ceremony was hosted at Fourah Bay College, bringing the awards to Sierra Leone for an event that represented a celebration of African talent, achievement and contribution.

For me, however, watching the ceremony unfold carried a significance that was difficult to separate from the journey that had brought me there.

I thought about the email I had received three years earlier while sitting in my room as a university student. I thought about the caution with which I had approached it and the research I had done before responding.

I thought about the young man who was trying to build an African media platform with a smartphone and very limited resources. Most importantly, I thought about the decision I had made in 2021 to respond to Dr Falala with two simple words: “Let’s do it.”

Three years later, that relationship had contributed to an event taking place in my own country, at one of West Africa’s most historic institutions of higher learning.

More Than an Awards Ceremony

That is why, for me, the African Genius Awards in Sierra Leone was never simply another event. It represented the outcome of several years of relationship-building, communication, partnership development and persistence.

It demonstrated the importance of strategic public relations and stakeholder engagement, but it also demonstrated something broader about what Africans can accomplish when we choose to work together.

Africa has no shortage of talent, ideas or remarkable people. What we need are more platforms capable of identifying that talent, celebrating it and connecting people across borders. The African Genius Awards is one such platform, and its presence in Sierra Leone provided an opportunity to participate in that continental conversation.

It also challenged the idea that countries such as Sierra Leone should always be spectators when major African initiatives are taking place elsewhere. We can host. We can build partnerships. We can contribute ideas. We can create platforms. We can bring people together.

The Smartphone That Started It All

Looking back two years later, perhaps the most important lesson I take from the experience is not about the awards themselves, but about where the journey began.

I did not begin The African Dream with an office or a large team. I did not have the resources that many people might consider necessary to build a serious media platform. I started with a smartphone, an internet connection and a conviction that African stories were worth telling.

That same phone became the tool through which I communicated with people, built relationships, developed my platform and eventually participated in the communications work surrounding the arrival of the African Genius Awards in Sierra Leone.

That does not mean resources are irrelevant. They are not. But sometimes we place so much emphasis on what we do not have that we fail to recognize the possibilities contained within what we already possess.

For me, the smartphone was enough to start.

The rest came through persistence, relationships, learning and opportunities.

A Journey I Will Always Be Proud Of

I remain grateful to Dr Sifiso Falala for trusting me when I was still a young university student with a growing platform and very limited resources. I am grateful to the leadership of Fourah Bay College and the University of Sierra Leone for embracing the partnership, to Sallu Kamuskay for his support during the communications campaign, and to the journalists and media professionals who helped tell the story and amplify the event.

I am also grateful that, when the opportunity eventually came to consider Sierra Leone as a host country, I had the confidence to make the proposal and the determination to help see it through.

Since its launch, the African Genius Awards has continued to celebrate remarkable African minds and changemakers, including figures such as Aliko Dangote, Chinua Achebe, Bantu Stephen Biko, Ali Mazrui, Wole Soyinka, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Dr Denis Mukwege and Professor Tshilidzi Marwala across its various editions.

To have played a role in the journey that brought the platform to Sierra Leone is something I will always be proud of.

The Journey Continues

Two years after Freetown hosted the African Genius Awards, I can now look back at that moment with a clearer understanding of what it represented. It was the culmination of a relationship that began when I was a student, a partnership built on trust and an example of how an idea can move from a conversation to an institution, from an institution to an event and from an event to a lasting memory.

The story began with an unexpected email from South Africa. I could have ignored it. Instead, I investigated, took a chance and replied: “Let’s do it. Let’s partner.”

Three years later, the African Genius Awards was in Freetown.

And for me, that remains one of the clearest reminders of why I continue to believe in the power of African collaboration, African storytelling and, above all, the African dream.