Gabriella Gonthier celebrated as Miss University Africa Tourism 2021 |21 February 2022
Gabriella Gonthier, who won the Miss University Africa Tourism 2021 at the Miss University Africa 2021 pageant held on December 18, 2021 in Abuja, Nigeria, was hosted to a small ceremony on Friday evening to crown her achievements.
The event took place at Maison Marengo, Au Cap, in the presence of the Minister for Youth, Sports and Family, Marie Céline Zialor; the Minister for Education, Dr Justin Valentin; the principal secretary in the Blue Economy department, Kenneth Racombo; the country director of Miss Africa Seychelles, Terry Carola; family, friends and sponsors.
The 23-year-old Miss University Africa Tourism, who was welcomed with words of praises and congratulations from colleagues, friends and families, was also showered with gifts, gift vouchers and cash prizes, among other prizes from them and from the sponsors.
Among her prizes is an offer for her to attend further studies of her choice at the University of Seychelles (Unisey) sponsored by the university and for a further enrolment in an international beauty pageant, yet to be decided, sponsored by Telly’s Modelling Agency.
Ms Gonthier was supposed to have been crowned with her title that night by the current Miss University Africa 2021, Adar Yussuf Ibrahim from Somalia, but she was not present as she could not board the plane earlier in the day in Nairobi, Kenya, as her PCR test had expired.
The organisers of Miss Africa Seychelles is waiting for her arrival on another day for her to present our first Miss University Africa Tourism 2021 beauty queen with her crown.
Ms Gonthier said she was happy that the potential of females are valued in the country although some skepticism still surrounds beauty pageants.
She noted that among other domains dominated by men, beauty pageant is one of the platforms where women can create an impact and is happy the country allows such platform to exist.
She said she was proud to have carried the Seychelles pride which has borne fruit.
As Miss University Africa Tourism, she will be responsible to help in the promotion of the tourism industry both locally and at the African continental level.
She is the third Seychellois to compete in the Miss University Africa after Falaine Dora in 2017 and Rynia Tamboo in 2018.
In a message to the youth, Ms Gonthier put emphasis on education as the key to their success as she also looks forward to conduct her Master’s degree.
She said she was overwhelmed from the welcome she received from the Seychellois public which is top of the top.
She thanked everyone who believed in and supported her, noting that there will be more achievements coming from her in the future, not to only make herself proud but also the country.
Ms Gonthier is a senior monitoring and evaluation officer at the Ministry of Fisheries and the Blue Economy and is also responsible for international cooperation in the department of the Blue Economy.
She completed her studies at the UniSey in 2020 after enrolling on a three-year course for the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, specialisng in International Business, a programme from the University of London.
She was known, during her tenure at UniSey, to be a very studious, resilient, confident and persevering lady.
She excelled in her academic field for which she scored the highest marks worldwide in the Business Study Skills Method module in 2018 and the Management Information Systems module in 2019.
Apart from her studies, Ms Gonthier also demonstrated her love for fashion by joining the Telly’s Modelling Agency and in 2018 she won the Miss Regatta at the Seychelles Regatta event held at Beau Vallon.
From there she participated in the Mercedes Benz Fashion week in Ghana in 2019 and further in the Miss Seychelles Beauty contest in 2020 where she won a prize for Best Creative Costume.
At Miss University Africa, Ms Gonthier was judged on her character, personality, and her performance through cultural dance and on the production of a video, among other criteria which included her project which focused on certain aspects of the Blue Economy. She was in the final, among 54 other contestants on the continent, after a 14-day boot camp.
Miss University Africa (MUA) is an annual international beauty pageant organised to celebrate the beauty and potentials of young African women while encouraging them to follow the path to have a university degree. It is a non-bikini competition for university students or graduants between the ages of 18-26. The pageant focuses on certain values such as women empowerment, contribution of women in societies, contribution of women towards their countries, including the African identity. It was founded by Nigerian businessman, Taylor Nazzal, and the first pageant was held in 2010.
It is to be noted that Ms Yussuf as Miss University Africa 2021, won herself US $50,000 in endorsement deals and a new car. She also becomes a United Nations Students’ Ambassador.
In a vote of thanks, Mr Carolla thanked everyone behind the success of Ms Gonthier and for believing in the work being done, through beauty pageants and fashion, to bring Seychelles to the next level.
He added that Seychelles as a small nation has the potential to make its mark in the world through supporting young talents like Ms Gonthier, who has brought honours to the country.
Mr Carolla said that people should understand that there is benefit through fashion and beauty pageants and what it takes to move further is the right structure and support.
He stated that Ms Gonthier was chosen because she was the right candidate and with a university degree.
The accompanying photos show some highlights of the evening at Maison Marengo on Friday.
Patrick Joubert
