Photo Credit: Sasha P/Instagram
Musician and entrepreneur Anthonia “Sasha P” Alabi has just scored a big win at the CANEX SME Pitch Grant Prize in Algiers. Her pitch, “From Barriers to Bridges: Building Africa’s Creative Backbone,” earned her the $10,000 prize under the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) initiative by Afreximbank, which supports entrepreneurs shaping Africa’s creative industries.
With her company, Purplefire Entertainment, Sasha P has been working on Pan-African touring, talent buying, events, and casting. This win gives her the backing to expand that vision — building systems that make it easier for creatives to collaborate, tour across borders, and create opportunities that go beyond the stage. It’s a plan designed to strengthen the backbone of Africa’s creative economy while also boosting trade, tourism, and cultural exchange.
Making the announcement on Instagram, Sasha P shared some photos from the event, including one where she’s seen in an elegant emerald green outfit holding a large ceremonial cheque. The cheque is made out to “Anthonia Alabi – Alec” for $10,000, with “SME DEVELOPMENT FORUM PITCH” noted in the memo line.
She paired the photos with a deeply personal reflection, remembering her father and one of her earliest moments holding a microphone at a family gathering. Even as a child, he was her loudest cheerleader, and she connected that memory to the people who continue to root for her today.
“You are all a reminder of my father’s unapologetic protectiveness of my dreams,” she wrote.
