Gerety Awards - GERETY TALKS: African Creativity

Gerety Talks African Creativity with Rozanne van der Merwe, Angela Njagi and Yaa Boateng.

Just like the award show, the Gerety Talks series puts some of the marketing and creative industry’s true changemakers in the spotlight and at the centre of the conversation for a refreshing take on what leadership looks like. Named for Frances Gerety, the copywriter who in 1948 coined the slogan "A diamond is forever”. The Gerety Awards brings together a jury to select the best in advertising that resonates most with a female audience, creating a benchmark that is relevant to the market reality, all while redefining the standard to which advertising has traditionally been held.


Rozanne van der Merwe, Managing Director at Ogilvy Namibia
Driven to learn & apply new ideas and skills within any advertising client’s industry, I have proven to work to stringent deadlines, and to adapt quickly to challenges and changing environments. My strong work ethic is driven by my passion for brands & partnerships. I am team spirited, self-motivated, resourceful, reliable, and thrive to make sure the agency operates cohesively and remain true to the Ogilvy values.

Angela Njagi, Creative Team Lead, Kenya
Angela is an award-winning creative with over 8 years’ experience creating impactful campaigns, crafting shareable content; helping brands tell powerful stories and collaborating with great creative minds to push the envelope in the advertising industry.
A fierce advocate of showcasing the brilliance and beauty of our continent. Angela knows the importance of showcasing narratives that we rather not make space for; it is telling stories so that the marginalized can have a seat at the table. It is finding new ways to tell the same story because perspectives matter while being engaging enough to spark a thought.
With every swipe of the keyboard, her aim is clear; to inform, persuade, switch mentalities, encourage and if all else fails entertain enough to make the audience remember a brand through creative concepts and content
Angela has led several award winning campaigns including but not limited to; Story for Chela: the world’s first book ever co-created by a country to raise awareness on illiteracy and help build libraries for Kenyan children for US- AID, Chukua Selfie: a controversial youth campaign set to encourage HIV self-testing and safe sexual practices created in partnership with Elton John Aids foundation.
Currently, Angela works with creative teams within data and tech industry working to uplift local entrepreneurship and drive social impact.
She is passionate about brands and curious about their role in consumers’ lives, and the delicate balance between heart and science
It is a great time to be an African creative and Angela believes the people telling these stories should carry the same conviction

Yaa Boateng, Business Director and ECD at The Storytellers, Ghana
After competing against over 700 applicants worldwide, Yaa was 1 of 15 women selected globally (the first Ghanaian and only African in 2019) to be part of the Cannes Lions See It Be It initiative to inspire, support, and bridge the gender gap by accelerating the next generation of senior-level women in the creative industry.
With over 15 years of working experience in advertising, Yaa has a total of 65 industry awards (including 4 platinum awards) under her belt. She started her career in advertising as a junior designer at Landor Associates in the UK and moved back to Ghana where she joined Ogilvy. Yaa rose through the ranks of junior designer and became the first and only female Creative Director within WPP Scangroup in Africa (A J. Walter Thompson Company) during her time at Scanad.
Yaa is a graduate of the Arts Institute of Bournemouth, with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree in Graphic Design and certificates in Leadership, Branding & Marketing, Interactive Media & Digital. She received an award for typographic excellence from the International Society of Typographic Designers (UK), which earned her the title MISTD after her name. She also had the opportunity to exhibit some of her work at London's D&AD New Blood show.
Over the years Yaa has worked on several local and multinational brands including Vlisco, Vodafone, Woodin, Coca-Cola, Zeepay, Nestlé, OLAM, SABMiller, Guinness, Bosch, Canon, Acacia & DKT International.