Toyota Tsusho Corporation ("Toyota Tsusho") announced today that the inaugural award recipients of THE TOYOTA TSUSHO CFAO African Art Award have been decided. In August 2025, Toyota Tsusho and its group company CFAO SAS ("CFAO") established the award as a cultural and artistic initiative aimed at creating the future of Africa through art, making it the first initiative of its kind by a Japanese private company.

This award aims to help develop the next generation of African talent and vibrant, resilient communities through the discovery and support of young African artists.

In the selection process, 35 art professionals active around the world, including curators and art critics, participated as nominators through the global networks of Toyota Tsusho and CFAO. Approximately 100 artists representing local art scenes across Africa were nominated. From these, a shortlist of 12 artists was established based on originality, coherence, and relevance. Following a rigorous screening process conducted by 10 jury members, five award recipients were named across five prizes categories: one Grand Prize, two Distinguished Awards, and two Sponsor Awards.

Representative works by the winners will be exhibited starting with an exhibition in the Republic of Togo in June, followed by exhibitions in Japan and France.

Through this award, Toyota Tsusho will support promising artists from Africa, and together, help create the continent's future. In Japan, an exhibition is scheduled to take place in Tokyo in October.

	Name	MOFFAT TAKADIWA
	Nationality	Zimbabwe
	Style	Mixed Media
	Artist Biography	Moffat Takadiwa studied for Diploma Fine Art in Harare Polytechnic College, Zimbabwe. He has exhibited internationally, including the 60th Venice Biennale (2024) and the São Paulo Biennale (2025). His work has also featured in notable institutional shows such as Galerie Édouard-Manet (France), Craft Contemporary (Los Angeles,USA) and the National Gallery of Zimbabwe (Harare).

	Name	GOSETTE LUBONDO
	Nationality	Democratic Republic of the Congo
	Style	Photography
	Artist Biography	Gosette Lubondo graduated in visual communication from the Academy of Fine Arts in Kinshasa in 2014. Her work has been exhibited at biennales and in group exhibitions such as the Kampala Biennale, the Lubumbashi Biennale, and at the Hirosaki Museum in Japan in 2024. In 2021, she was awarded the Maison Ruinart Prize, which is given annually to an emerging artist exhibiting at Paris Photo. In 2022, her work was presented at the Fowler Museum at UCLA. Her work is part of important collections such as the Musée du Quai Branly Jacques Chirac (Paris), Kanal Centre Pompidou (Belgium), Frac Nouvelle-Aquitaine (Bordeaux), the Saint Louis Museum (Missouri), and the Mast Foundation (Bologna).

	Name	UNATHI MKONTO
	Nationality	South Africa
	Style	Mixed Media
	Artist Biography	Unathi Mkonto pursued a Bachelor in Architecture at Nelson Mandela University. He was also a design fellow at Architecture for Humanity in Johannesburg. Residencies* that he has participated in currently are TOLET at Zeitz Mocaa, AVOID at the A4 Arts Foundation, Stevenson Amsterdam gallery and Alma Martha, both in Cape Town, South Africa. Solo exhibitions include Flat (2018) at Blank Gallery in Cape Town, Mkonto l Mazwana (2021) at Spaceby in Cape Town, Enclosed Camp (2022) at Open 24 hours Gallery in Cape Town, as well as Juxtapositions (2023) at Stevenson gallery in Cape Town. *Residency: A program in which artists stay in a place for a set period to create new work.

	Award	Toyota Tsusho Award
	Name	KATLEGO C.L. TWALA
	Nationality	Botswana
	Style	Painting
	Artist Biography	Katlego C.L. Twala studied at the Swedish Academy of Realist Art and the Barcelona Academy of Art, grounding her practice in strong technical foundations. She received the New Emergence Art Prize in 2024. Her first art fair was the 2025 Latitudes Art Fair, where she presented a sold-out solo booth with the Banana Club Artist Fund. This was followed by a presentation at the FNB Art Joburg Art Fair with Everard Read Gallery.

	Award	CFAO Award
	Name	TIZTA BERHANU
	Nationality	Ethiopia
	Style	Painting
	Artist Biography	Tizta Berhanu graduated in 2013 from the Addis Ababa University, Alle School of Fine Arts and Design. Her latest solo exhibition, Agape, took place at Addis Fine Art, Addis Ababa in 2024. Her work has been exhibited in various group and solo shows in Nigeria, South Africa, Sweden, and the United States, including three solo exhibitions with Addis Fine Art: Heber (2021) in Addis Ababa, The Armory Show (2021) in New York, and Synthesis of Souls (2023) in London.

Award name	THE TOYOTA TSUSHO CFAO African Art Award Click here for the special website
Purpose	To help develop the next generation of African talent and vibrant, resilient communities through the discovery and support of young African artists
Eligibility	Promising young artists from all 54 African countries
Jury	・Chris DERCON / Curator and Museum Director, Managing Director of the Fondation 　Cartier pour l’art contemporain – Paris (France) ・Guillaume DÉSANGES / Curator and Art critic, President, Palais de Tokyo ・Ekow ESHUN / Writer, Broadcaster and Curator – Paris (France) ・N’Goné FALL / Curator, Editor, General commissioner of the Africa 2020 Season ・Yuko HASEGAWA / Curator, Art historian, Former Director of the 21st Century 　Museum of Contemporary Art - Kanazawa (Japan) ・Alicia KNOCK / Head curator for contemporary art & research, Centre Pompidou - Paris (France) ・Hiromi KUROSAWA / Curator, Former Chief curator of 21st Century Museum of Contemporary 　Art - Kanazawa (Japan) ・Sonia LAWSON / Founding Director, Palais de Lomé (Togo) ・Richard BIELLE / Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, CFAO ・Ichiro KASHITANI / Vice Chairman of the Board, Toyota Tsusho Corporation
Support details	・Prize money ・Exhibition opportunities in Togo, France, and Japan ・Catalog production for each exhibition
Organizers	Toyota Tsusho Corporation / CFAO SAS
In cooperation with	Palais de Lomé (Republic of Togo)
Upcoming exhibitions	June 2026: Exhibition to be held at Palais de Lomé in Togo October 2026: Exhibition to be held at “space Un” in Omotesando, 　　　　　　 Tokyo Exhibition to be held at GINZA TSUTAYA BOOKS (GINZA SIX 6F) in Ginza, Tokyo April 2027: Exhibition to be held at Palais de Tokyo in France

<Reference information>
August 18, 2025 release: Promoting Culture and the Arts to Create Africa's Future - Launch of THE TOYOTA TSUSHO CFAO African Art Award -
(https://www.toyota-tsusho.com/english/press/detail/250818_006670.html)