African-American international student, DeWayne Renaissance Rivers II, who is currently in the University of Ghana studying Marketing through the international program, United Studies Abroad Consortium (USAC), will be representing Ghana at Model of Africa Competition in Lagos, Nigeria on June 18. The competition serves as a vehicle to discover young men with star quality who shall qualify to compete with winners from other parts of the world at the Mister International Competition in Singapore.

Although the event in Lagos would search for a rep from Nigeria for the event, Dewayne will be competing for Ghana. Born in Decatur, Illinois, DaWayne’s mother has roots from Ghana and he hopes to represent that in the competition. He comments, “I am competing in Model of Africa as a representative for Ghana and the United States. I am doing this for my family while doing what I love. I’ve been modeling since I was in my second year of high school as a freelancer.”

He sees the competition as a great opportunity to gain respect in the modeling industry, demonstrate his skills on a world stage, as well as give his family an opportunity to be honored financially and spiritually. So how well can African-American represent Ghana on such an international stage? DeWayne believes: “I am an African-American but my mother's ancestry is from Ghana. So even though I am not considered a Ghanaian citizen by papers because of my birthplace is in the United States, I am a true Ghanaian in spirit and I will make a great representative for Ghana. Based on my internationally oriented education, I have the ability to create global awareness.”

DeWayne hopes to do his best and gain as much experience as possible from the competition. While in Ghana for studies, he has done some freelance modeling including an online catalog spread for Afrochic Clothing.

According to the organizers of the Model of Africa Competition, the search aims to serve as a platform that will help catapult the careers of young aspiring models. The competition will also afford the contestants the opportunity to sharpen their skills; build great portfolios by working with some of the best photographers, designers, and stylists in the industry; and ultimately create great industry networking opportunities for them. There will be winners in special categories such as Mr. Photogenic, Mr. Runway and Mr. Stylish.