Cameroonian model, Foje Jencey who represented Cameroon in the Miss Africa 2016 competitions in Nigeria, came 2nd runner up at the closing ceremony last night.

Angola’s Neurite Mendes, emerged winner of the maiden Miss Africa 2016. By the victory, Mendes is the first “Miss Africa Climate Change Ambassador’’.

Miss South Africa, Refilwe Mthimunwe was the first runner-up.

The maiden edition of the beauty pageant with the theme, “Green Economy, a tool for Sustainable Development’’ took place at the Calabar International Conference Centre (CICC) in Cross River.

Miss Angola also won a brand new 2016 Ford Escape and a mouth watering USD25, 000-prize money.

The pageant, sponsored by the Cross River Government, is to produce what the organisers called a “true African Queen’’ who will campaign for issues concerning climate change.

Nollywood stars including Kate Henshaw, Juliet Ibrahim and Uti Nwachukwu were selected as host and judges while 30 beauty queens, representing 30 African countries including Nigeria, competed for the star prize.

On arrival, the Queens spent two nights at the Obudu Mountain Resort and participated in the second Dry Run for the 2016 Carnival Calabar.

The pageant is a new addition, which serves as a prelude and heralds the 32-day annual Calabar festival, flagging off every November 30.