The Africa International Design Awards (AIDA Awards) officially launched in 2025 in Cotonou as a new global platform celebrating African design across four key disciplines: Spatial Design, Product Design, Communication Design, and Fashion Design. Founded by the 3C Awards Group, in collaboration with the Africa Design School in Benin, AIDA Awards aims to showcase innovative projects deeply rooted in African culture and dedicated to addressing the continent's unique social, economic, and environmental challenges.

The Africa Design School, the first design school in West Africa, will help establish the educational and cultural context for the awards. In contrast, the 3C Group, a leading organisation that curates and promotes design globally, brings its expertise and network. Together, these founding organisations ensure that the AIDA Awards are grounded in African creativity and international standards.

AIDA's jurors are a diverse, internationally acclaimed group of leaders representing expertise across disciplines and geographies. With Bibi Seck, Co-founder of Birsel + Seck, as Head of Jury, and Senegalese designers, Ousmane Mbaye of Ousmane Mbaye Design and Faty Ly, Ceramic Designer & Ceramic artist of FATYLABS, the panel brings together decades of experience in product and furniture design.

South African interior architect Juliet Kavishe, past Vice President of the International Council of Design and Executive Board member of the Pan-African Design Institute (PADI), adds strong academic with Des Laubscher, Co-Founder and CEO of Greenside Design Center, College of Design in Johannesburg. Issa Diabaté, Ivorian architect and Managing Director of Koffi & Diabaté Group, is also bringing his visionary approach to sustainable architecture and deep commitment to shaping Africa’s urban future to the jury panel.

On the digital and communication front, Nigeria's Seun Olatunji, a design strategist specialising in human-centred innovation, founder of OLAT Design Consultancy, and South African illustrator Tshepo Mas, celebrated for his vibrant visual storytelling, lend expertise in UX and graphic design. As creative leaders of the continent, Emuron Alemu, Chief Creative Officer of The Quollective Africa, Brandt Botes, Head of Design Dentsu Creative, Clayton Swartz, Creative Director at LePub, part of Publicis Group in South Africa and Ghana-based, Luc-Emmanuel Koutouan Aboussou, Groupe Creative Director of Publicis Groupe Africa, are also joining the Jury board, bringing a 360-degree vision of design services.

In Fashion, Ghanaian entrepreneur Roberta Annan, founder of the African Fashion Foundation, a Pan-African Institution that fosters opportunities for emerging fashion entrepreneurs and start-ups across the continent, bring global fashion and branding experience. Rhoda Aguonigho, founder of Lhaude Africa in Nigeria and internationally based, Zimbabwe-born Priscilla Chigariro, founder of Zimbabwe Fashion Week, and Ugandan innovator Beatrace Oola, award-winning founder of Fashion Africa Now, are leading voices in shaping transformative ecosystems within global fashion.

At the same time, Charles O'Job, a Lagos-born designer and professor in Switzerland, contributes award-winning insights in architectural and furniture design, while Mariam Hazem and Hend Riad, Chief Designers and Co-Founders of Reform Studio in Egypt, will carefully review the Product and Fashion submissions.

These distinguished jurors, and many more to be discovered on the AIDA Awards website, exemplify AIDA's mission to elevate African creativity through diversity, expertise, and global recognition. Together, they reflect the depth and reach of African design and its role in shaping a sustainable and innovative future.

The AIDA Awards is envisioned as more than just an awards program – "a movement" to uplift African design at large. It will nurture emerging talent and underscore design's critical role in sustainable development and social innovation. In recent years, African designers have increasingly adopted sustainable practices, utilising eco-friendly materials, traditional low-impact techniques, and local craftsmanship to drive economic development and preserve their communities' cultural heritage. By spotlighting this work, AIDA Awards will inspire new ideas and collaborations, demonstrating how African creativity provides solutions to the continent's challenges.

"AIDA Awards was born from a simple idea: to stand alongside Africa's designers and help their work be seen," said Astrid Hébert, Director of 3C Awards Group. "Together with the Africa Design School, we built this platform to honour the ingenuity already shaping the continent, ideas deeply rooted in culture, responding to real challenges, and imagining new futures. Our role is to listen, to celebrate, and to help these stories reach the audiences they deserve."

The Africa International Design Awards (AIDA) launched alongside African Design Week 2025 in Cotonou, organised by the Africa Design School.

The program is open and calling for submissions until March 31st 2026, welcoming professionals, independent designers, and students alike. The launch and awards ceremony are expected to attract international press and industry attention, positioning Benin as a rising hub for African creative industries.