Check Out The 10 African Girls Competing To Become The Next Miss Universe Queen

Ms Angola: ZULEICA WILSON

About her: Zuleica Wilson is a fourth-year student of business and management at

 Lusiada University of Angola. Determined to make a name for herself, she has a big smile, believes in her capacities to be in a competition, and relies on strength and determination as the beginning points of success. Her best quality is humility, and she loves her family, friends and art. She is very talkative and likes to make her friends laugh. Zuleica is currently writing a book about her life story. Her dream is to become a successful business woman in marketing as well as a TV host.

88 of the world’s most beautiful women are set to light up our TV screens this Sunday, the 25th of January2015 at THE 63RD MISS UNIVERSE beauty contest in Doral-Miami, Florida, United States. These women are the beauty queens from their respective countries beauty pageants which are held annually across 4 different continents. Over the years, the Miss Universe competition has become an international annual tradition where countless of young driven women get a chance to put themselves on a much bigger platform and into the Miss Universe history. Out of the 88 contestants, there are 10Africans competing for that ultimate prize of Ms Universe 2015. Below are images of the 10 Africanscompeting to become the next Miss Universe Queen.

Ms Gabon: MAGGALY ORNELLIA NGUEMA

About her: Hailing from the the nation’s capital, Libreville, Maggaly Ornellia Nguema is a 22-year-old graduate of Omar Bongo University. The eldest child, Maggaly grew up in the bustling area of Nzeng-Ayong with her brothers and sisters, attending school from primary to university, going to church where she sang in the choir and climbing mango trees! With her communications degree, Maggaly is pursing a career in advertising where she will create images, sights and sounds that not only intrigue the eyes and ears, but also share emotions. Outside of her personal ambitions, Maggaly is passionate about bringing awareness to Leprosy and fighting to end the discrimination that Lepers face in the surrounding communities. She has started this task by organizing an awareness day that has brought together both Leprosy patients, adults and children, and the community to enjoy a fun filled day with activities, games, arts and crafts. Most importantly this day showed us that Lepers are no different than anyone else.

Ms Ghana: ABENA APPIAH

About her: Abena Appiah is fashion student at the Radford University in Ghana. She received her high school education in the United States and completed her degree in Ghana. She is a determined and fun-loving woman. Abena won Miss Talent Ghana in 2012 and won Top Model Ghana in 2013, she also represented Ghana in the Top Model Of The World pageant held inEgypt. Abena is an entertainer and loves to be entertained. She has been modeling since age 3 and discovered her music abilities at the age of 9. She sings, models, acts, and writes her own music. She plays the guitar, recorder and the clarinet. She has released five singles and is working on her first album to be released in 2015. “Strive hard to achieve your goals no matter the circumstances,” that’s her philosophy. With the revenue from the release of her first album, Abena plans to create opportunities for youngGhanaian women and girls through a talent management school she plans to open in Ghana.

Ms Tanzania: NALE BONIFACE

About her: Nale Boniface was born on February 24, 1991. She is a student at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Dar es Salaaam. This medical student was raised with her sister by a single mother. Nale is an excellent student and manages to keep up with studies and her modeling career. She believes women count in society and that they just have to recognize and pursue their career. Nale worked as a Goodwill Ambassador for Marie Stoppes, an international charity organization that deals with reproductive health. She worked to create a public awareness campaign geared towards young women in school and mentored them to remain in school and avoid getting pregnant at a young age. She is keen to continue mentoring young women and hopes to inspire more girls to study science and contribute meaningfully to society.

Ms Mauritius: PALLAVI GUNGARAM

About her: Pallavi Gungaram, crowned Miss Universe Mauritius, is a beauty ambassador of her country. Born and raised in the city of Vacoas-Phoenix, Mauritius, she is currently a student in Psychology at the University of Mauritius. She comes from a modest family of two children where she is the youngest and has been blessed with the unconditional love and support of her family members. Being a down to earth person, Pallavi has always maintained her simplicity despite her title and believes that happiness can be found even in the darkest of times. She welcomes challenges and undertakes any responsibility given to her with dignity. She is passionate about reading and simply loves to get lost in the fantasy world. She is fond of adventures and anything thrilling like water-sports. Her most ardent dream remains bringing glory to her motherland, and she is striving to make that dream come true.

Ms South Africa: ZIPHOZAKHE ZOKUFA

About her: Addicted to music and playing her guitar, Miss Universe South AfricaZiphozakhe Zokufa said her passion for music started after her mom bought a piano when she was about five years old. Ziphozakhe is a big fan of Beyonce’s music and loves her work ethic as well

Ms Kenya: GAYLYNE AYUGI

About her: Gaylyne Ayugi is a journalism major at Zetech University in Nairobi, Kenya. She was born and raised in Nairobi city and grew up with her three siblings, two sisters and one brother. She boasts of being a tomboy and this led her to pursuing dance as a hobby. She joined a dance crew called Platinum that later on went to become the winner in the 2009 Nairobi street battle. However in 2010, she dropped out because of an injury. Her ambition in life is to start a successful fashion company that will open up Kenya to the international fashion market. She has been modeling for a year, and has managed to do five high fashion events in her country. She has done print modeling for a number of stores in Kenya and also for a for makeup pop-up. Her life in the fashion industry has grown and she will not stop until she reaches her goal of touching lives through modelling.

Ms Nigeria: QUEEN CELESTINE

About her: Queen Osem Celestine was born on March 18, 1992 into a family of seven. Queen is a very humble girl with an amazing personality. She is a very good cook and loves to try new recipes. She is a university graduate with a degree in Mass Communication, but is currently focusing on her duties asMiss Universe Nigeria. She has loved the arts from a very young age and her hobbies include dancing, singing and acting. Queen is very strong-willed and full of life.

Ms Egypt: LARA DEBBANE

About her: Lara Debbane lives in the magical city Cairo and is currently studying Mass Communication at Notre Dame University in Lebanon. Since she was a child, she took part in many artistic and sports activities such as the musical play “The Sound Of Music”, national Opera ballet performances and school basket games. She has a great passion for all types of dancing, music and acting/directing. She has been involved in many charity projects focusing on children, youth and environment. Her dream job is to become an international movie director as well as take part in many charity works that would benefit women and youth empowerment worldwide. She believes that each one of us is born with a unique gift and real happiness lies in using our gifts in helping each other and putting a smile on those who need it. In her opinion, great achievements are not measured by how big our action is, yet by simple and small acts that we do with great love. For Lara, beauty is a mixture of well education, good manners and respect.

Ms Ethiopia: HIWOT MAMO

About her: Hiwot Bekele was born and raised in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. At a very young age, she fell in love with pageants and fashion design. At 16, she started modeling and doing pageants. When she turned 17, she joined Next Fashion Designing Institute to develop her knowledge and her passion fashion designing. She is a hard worker. She graduated high school first from her department and joined Addis Ababa University School of Commerce. She had one of the best GPA’s at her university, and on top of school and modeling she started working for a production company as a marketer. After a few months she was promoted to Marketing Manager. After graduating from AAUSC, Hiwot started developing her own fashion line. She won several prizes over the years working as a model, designer and a pageant girl. She is now 24 years old, working as one of the top models in Ethiopia and running her own line as a fashion designer.

The first group of judges for the Miss Universe judging panel have just been announced. They will help select the next titleholder, and they include: Manny Pacquiao, Fighter of the Decade, eight-division world champion and Filipino Congressman, Kristin Cavallari, TV host and shoe designer,William Levy, TV and film actor who was previously named People En Espanol’s Sexiest Man Alive,Lisa Vanderpump, Star of the hit show “Vanderpump Rules” and “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”, and Louise Roe, Fashion journalist, author, host of “Plain Jane” on MTV International and the upcoming TLC fashion series, “Style By Jury”. Performing at the 63rd Annual ‪#‎MissUniverse‬Pageant will be Nick Jonas and Prince Royce! Jonas will perform during the evening gown portion of the competition, while Royce will perform during the swimsuit portion.

Be sure to tune in to the competition on January 25th, which will broadcast LIVE on NBC at 8/7c fromDoral-Miami! Good luck to all the contestants!