ABIDJAN, Côte d’Ivoire, 25 March 2026 -/African Media Agency(AMA)/ – African Media Agency (AMA) has won the 2026 Africa SABRE Award in the Western Africa category. The ceremony took place on March 17 at The Venue Melrose Arch in Johannesburg, South Africa. This accolade recognises the Abidjan-based pan-African firm’s high-impact Public Relations campaign for Bluemind Foundation, a mental health advocacy organisation founded by Marie-Alix de Putter. Through strategic narrative crafting, AMA scaled Bluemind’s ‘Heal by Hair’ initiative into a global movement, turning African hair salons into hubs for mental wellness.
AMA’s Mandate to take an African Solution for Mental Health Global
As the mental health crisis affects 13.9% of the world’s population, including nearly 150 million people in Africa, AMA’s work for ‘Heal by Hair’ positioned the training of hairdressers as certified Mental Health Ambassadors as a scalable, African-born solution that can be applied anywhere around the globe.
However, to reach the goal of supporting one million women across Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, and Togo by 2030, Marie-Alix de Putter’s initiative required a strategic shift from a local grassroots effort to a visible, continent-wide movement. This pursuit set high objectives for AMA to achieve global visibility and leverage international media recognition, consequently helping Bluemind Foundation secure the funding and strategic frameworks necessary for sustainable expansion across the continent and beyond.
Visibility and Impact
Relying exclusively on earned media, AMA successfully elevated Bluemind Foundation’s credibility and visibility among funders, partners, and policymakers, with coverage generating an estimated 353 million views worldwide.
AMA’s Partnerships and Funding Impact
“To move the needle on funding for Bluemind Foundation, we had to do more than just get publicity. We had to prove we deeply understood the mental health sector and the specific needs of women in these markets,” African Media Agency Founder & CEO Eloine Barry explained.
“It was essential for our agency to lean into our expertise in Francophone Africa. This regional experience was a strategic tool to align Bluemind’s vision with what global partners actually care about. For us, it really wasn’t just about a headline but about building the credibility that turns a story into a funding partner’s will to renew funding, so an African solution to mental health can scale globally.”
Indeed, the compound effect of widespread media exposure helped Bluemind Foundation to establish strong partnerships with 27 organisations and structures, including the Ministries of Health in Togo and Côte d’Ivoire, Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), and researchers from DIAL – University Paris Saclay and Santa Clara University to conduct the rigorous evaluation of the programme’s effectiveness. Meanwhile, Fund for Innovation in Development (FID) renewed its support for Bluemind Foundation with Stage 2 funding to enable a larger-scale impact evaluation in Togo from 2025 to 2027.
This visibility translated into measurable community impact, including a 104% increase in trained hairdressers, a 180% rise in certified mental health ambassadors, and an estimated 212,000 women reached directly.
Bluemind Foundation’s Founder and President, Marie-Alix de Putter says, “AMA understood early that Heal by Hair was not just an innovation but a shift in how mental health is addressed and how mental wellness is promoted. They held the narrative to that level from our launch to the pages of The New York Times and everything in between. I’m grateful for their intelligence, discipline, and care.”
Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA)
About African Media Agency (AMA)
African Media Agency (AMA) is a women-owned, award-winning pan-African agency providing high-impact strategic communications globally. The firm specializes in reputation management, digital strategy, and content development to drive measurable results.
AMA’s expertise spans across sectors like finance, health, and technology, and the creation of compelling narratives for diverse audiences. Headquartered in Abidjan, the agency has offices in Accra, Johannesburg, Durban, and New York, maintaining a presence in 30+ African markets.
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