Africa Crowns Beauty Queen

Venantia earned herself $150, 000 modeling contract which will see her plying her trade in New York City, one of the world’s fashion capitals. The judges said the decision to find the winner of this title was hard as all the girls who made it to the last 10 slots were striking, highly motivated and aspiring models with a promising future.

(Lovely winner, Ms. Otto).

They were all beautiful—but it’s a contest so one was selected to wear the crown. Venantia Otto, 18, of Namibia clinched the highly prestigious Nokia Face of Africa title beating nine other finalists in a tightly contested modeling competition which has a strong viewership across the continent.

The Nokia Face of Africa 2006 finals was broadcast live to more than 40 African countries by M-Net. This is the second time the crown has gone to Namibia. Venantia earned herself $150, 000 modeling contract which will see her plying her trade in New York City, one of the world’s fashion capitals. The judges said the decision to find the winner of this title was hard as all the girls who made it to the last 10 slots were striking, highly motivated and aspiring models with a promising future.

Otto will stay in South Africa until October to prepare for her new career in New York. In addition to the modeling contract, she won a string of prizes from big companies in South Africa. Last year, the crown was won by Kaone Kario of Botswana. The first Namibian to win the Nokia Face of Africa title was Benvinda Mudenge in 1998.

This modeling competition was started in 1998 and ran for four years before it was stopped for a brief period. In 2005, M-Net and Nokia revived the project and named it, the Nokia Face of Africa. Previous winners of this prestigious competition include Oluchi Onweagba (Nigeria), Benvinda Mudenge (Namibia), Nombulelo Mazibuko (South Africa) and Ramatoulaye Diallo (Senegal).

There is a growing interest in this premier African modeling event with young women across the continent taking greater interest in the modeling career.

Tsiko is The Black Star News’ Southern African correspondent based in Harare, Zimbabwe.

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