Nominate an achiever now to be recognised

London, England, February 14, 2006. Following the unparalleled success of GPA 05, the Organisers of the Annual prestigious GPA Awards for Ghana?s Professional and Business community are inviting professional and business people to be recognised at its 6th annual gala dinner and awards event on 1st July 2006, at the New Connaught Rooms, London, WC2.

This Mother of all awards aims to promote, encourage growth, excellence and innovation in its professional and business community. In recent times the awards have become the forum for harnessing and developing the entrepreneurial skills and talents of its community as well as professional development of its knowledge base. The awards also act as a platform for identifying positive role models and mentors for aspiring young people of the Diaspora. Emelia Bartels, Awards Founder said. ?Promoting and harnessing our professional and entrepreneurial talent is not only essential in raising the profile of our community but also significant in highlighting previously untapped talent which is essential in any thriving economy. GPA 2006 aims to provide this platform as well as become the unsurpassed forum for motivation, self-esteem, self-confidence and global networking. Nominating an achiever will ensure we achieve this objective?.

Eligibility

Any Uk professional, organisation or business you deem has attained excellence in their field as well as contributed significantly to their community in any shape or form. International participants can enter for the GPA International category and may not normally reside in the UK. Closing date for nominations is 31st May 2006. Entry can be done either on the GPA website or emailing for an entry form. Former winners cannot be nominated for the same category unless there have been significant changes in status quo or entering for a different category. As always the organisers are encouraging more participation from young people this year who have a special award designated to them.

2006 Awards Categories

There are three main Categories (Professional. General, and Special) with nineteen individual awards for grabs this year. The Professional Awards are: Law, Architecture, Health (medicine & nursing) Fashion & Beauty, Banking & Finance, and Sports. The General Awards include: Communication & Media, Science & Technology, Entrepreneur, Business innovator, Religion & Social Care and Entertainment.

The Special Awards for grabs this year are Excell Award for Innovation Dedication & Excellence (IDE), The Outstanding Contributor Award for non Ghanaians, the GPA International Award for Ghanaians in the Diaspora not normally residing in the UK, the Young Creative Star Award for a young Ghanaian under the age of 25 and The Corporate Champion- for Multinationals and organisations operating and with links in Ghana and Africa for their successful work in the area of Capacity Building, Training & Development, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Stakeholder Benefits.

Following the introduction of the highly subsidised entrepreneurship programme The GPA Business Class; The GPA is currently working with potential entrepreneurs to develop their business ideas with mentorship over 3-6 months. Participants to this programme will be offered certificates at the certificate presentation night prior to the awards with the most outstanding candidate receiving the GPA Business Class Award. This programme is open to all Africans resident in the UK. As an ongoing programme, potential participants are encouraged to apply through _businessclass@gpaawards.net_ (mailto:businessclass@gpaawards.net) . The award winner will also receive financial incentive from our sponsoring bank.

All nominators for this year event will be put in a prize draw to win free tickets to the awards and gala dinner in July.

For more info contact _nominations@gpaawards.net_ (mailto:nominations@gpaawards.net) _www.gpaawards.net_ (http://www.gpaawards.net/) Press Information Contact: Georgina Bimpong Kafina PR 0870 446 4472 or mobile 07958 545 653 Email: _georgina@kafina.co.uk_ (mailto:georgina@kafina.co.uk)

For Sponsorship Information Contact: Joanne Bartels: 0870 446 4472: 07947 860 953 Email: _joanne@gpaawards.net_ (mailto:joanne@gpaawards.net)