The Waka Waka: Dazzling Africa

Just Do It! That is the meaning of the Waka Waka in Cameroonian Fang slang, and what we invite you to do at Ibu’s International Women’s Day event, on March 7, 2025! The annual event will showcase the rich cultures and crafts across Africa and celebrate the fierce determination of women artisans bringing innovation to entrenched community issues while collaborating with one another to generate income from their heritage artisanal skills. 

From artisan beaders in Kenya to jewelers in South Africa, leather smiths in Ethiopia to embroiderers in Nigeria, women are creating a renaissance in design and impacting education, healthcare, nutrition, water resources, and community life. We invite you to join these innovators, linking resources to further their inspiring goals and expand their markets for success.

Presented by our leading sponsor, Bank of America Private Bank, this year Ibu will host a seated gala, including:

  • African delicacies prepared by celebrated Senegalese chef Bintou N’Daw, shared family-style around the table

  • Remarks from our global champion Beatrice Lempaira of BeadWORKS Kenya, and DyeLab partners Rukky Ladoja and Ozzy Etomi, about the impact of elevating women through the art of their hands

  • A fabulous runway show with the spirited glamor of our partners in design

  • Live music and shopping 

  • A paddle raise to fund important artisan grants and new initiatives in the year ahead.

Today, we’re offering you the opportunity to host a table of 8—gathering a group of friends to recognize these remarkable women crafting change. Only a few individual tickets will be offered later this year, so grab your Ibu and He-bu pals and make a night of it with friends now. Together, we can make a positive impact, celebrating the power in women’s hands.

Expanding on our prior artisan conversations at the Charleston Library Society, this year Ibu will host a three-session mini summit on the morning of March 7, featuring celebrated global leaders on the topics of culture and heritage, artisan design and impact, and women leaders around the continent. Attendees will have an opportunity to engage with the speakers through Q&A sessions at the end of each presentation, and will be able to shop work by Beckwith and Fisher, BeadWORKS, and DyeLab at the Ibu Showroom following the presentations.

Speakers include: 

  • Beatrice Lempaira, gender director at BeadWORKS Kenya, and Rukky Ladoja and Ozzy Etomi of Dye Lab in Nigeria, discussing the process of preserving heritage craft and the impact on women artisans earning a living wage in a moderated conversation led by Dr. Tonya Matthews, president and CEO of the International African American Museum.

  • Internationally-acclaimed photographers Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher, presenting their lifetime of work capturing ceremonial life in Africa.

  • Hafsat Abiola, president of Women in Africa Initiative and the co-lead for Project Dandelion; two platforms organizing women on the African continent and around the world into a force for sustainable development. Abiola will also share her story of losing both parents to her country’s democracy struggle.

  • Carolyn Murray, News 2 anchor, will emcee the event. 

Following the Mini Summit, join speakers at Ibu Movement for a book signing and shopping of African-made designs.

Women of Africa Mini Summit is sponsored by 

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