Nigeria has secured another strong showing on the global stage as 26-year-old Tamunosoye Karibi-George, the country’s representative at Miss World 2026, won the Africa Top Model title at the ongoing competition in Vietnam.
The victory, recorded on Thursday during the Vietnam Beauty Fashion Fest XVII, immediately placed Karibi-George among the contestants guaranteed a place in the Top 40 quarterfinals of Miss World 2026.
The Top Model contest, held under the theme “Soul of Heritage”, brought together representatives from across the continent. Karibi-George finished ahead of contestants from Equatorial Guinea, Botswana, Kenya and South Africa to emerge as Africa’s continental winner.
Her success means Nigeria is now represented among four continental Top Model winners who have earned automatic Top 40 places. The other winners are contestants from the Dominican Republic for the Americas and Caribbean, France for Europe, and Vietnam for Asia and Oceania.
The Miss World Organisation confirmed the result, congratulating the four continental winners and noting that each had stood out during the Top Model competition at the Vietnam Beauty Fashion Fest XVII.
There is, however, another prize still within reach as the four continental winners will compete for the overall Top Model crown, with the eventual winner receiving a direct passage into the Miss World Top 20.
The Top 40 itself will feature 10 contestants from each of the four continental groupings: Africa, the Americas and Caribbean, Asia and Oceania, and Europe.
Beyond the Top Model contest, the remaining positions in the Top 40 will be decided through other Miss World challenge categories, including People’s Choice, Beauty With a Purpose, Head-to-Head and Multimedia.
Karibi-George has already made an impression in other competition category. She advanced to the African finalists in the Head-to-Head Challenge, although South Africa’s Romanda Hombir eventually won the continental round and claimed the automatic Top 40 qualification from that category.
Her latest achievement adds another chapter to a journey that began with her being crowned Miss World Nigeria 2026 on June 6. She emerged from a field of 20 finalists at the Balmoral Hall of the Federal Palace Hotel in Lagos.
Although Karibi-George is from Port Harcourt, Rivers State, she represented Bayelsa State at the national pageant. She succeeded Joy Mojisola Raimi, who represented Nigeria at the previous Miss World competition and advanced to the Top 20.
Away from the pageant stage, Karibi-George has built a professional identity in communications and public service. She is an associate of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations and founded Beyond Labels, an initiative dedicated to inclusion, dignity and empowerment for children with special needs.
Her international pageant record also predates her Miss World Nigeria victory. In 2024, she won the Miss Africa International title in Accra, Ghana.
Now, with an Africa Top Model crown and a confirmed place in the Miss World Top 40 already secured, Karibi-George carries Nigeria’s hopes further into one of the world’s most prominent beauty competitions.
The road to the Miss World crown continues, but Nigeria has already made its presence felt in Vietnam.
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