Mpho Kuaho of Botswana outwitted competitors from seven other countries to win the professional category while Martha Gakii of Kenya beat contestants from another seven countries to win the novice category.

The jury of four judges from South Africa, Kenya and hosts Tanzania on Saturday chose the two designers for their better consideration and materialization of function, fantasy and creativity through their designs.

Kuaho also collected 5,000 U.S. dollars as cash prize while Gakii got 3,000 dollars. Both were invited to a tour of Cape Town of South Africa for more fashion design-related activities.

Competitors from Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mozambique, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia won their respective semi-finals to get into Saturday's grand finale.

The annual awards are also known as the Redd's Africa Fashion Design Awards, or Rafta for short.