Nini Ndongo Macias  – Miss Equatorial Guinea 2020

Nini Ndongo Macias is an Equatoguinean Actress, Activist, Dancer, Model, Singer, and Songwriter from Ayene Evusok, Añisok, Wele-Nzas, in La Republica de Guinea Ecuatorial, which is the only African-Hispanic, Spanish-speaking country in Central Africa. Though she was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, she belongs to her homelands largest ethnic group, The Fang Tribe, who are commonly known as the warriors of the paradisiac nation. Having grown up in a home of mixed Hispanic/Indigenous culture, tradition, and language, Nini got her first taste of stardom at the age of 6 as a member of the family band, HISPAFRIC, which specializes in performing traditional songs sung in her dialect (FANG) and traditional dances including Bikutsi, Cumbia, N’Dombolo, Makossa, Samba, Merengue, Soca, Mokom, and Zouk. It is with these inherited talents that she was able to break through in the Utah Entertainment Industry as a fulltime entertainer.

One of her goals is to demonstrate to the upcoming future generations of African woman that our natural variety of physical characteristics should not hinder our upward mobility of success in a world that deems our beauty standards inferior, unattractive, and other derogatory terms. Being one of the few African women in Utah’s entertainment industry, Nini has faced many obstacles like not being ‘African enough’ or ‘Hispanic enough’ because of bigoted stereotypes. Through personal experience, just 2 years ago, for the first time, she experienced what it was like to loathe her African characteristics of her heritage and caused her to feel insecure and inferior to more ‘acceptable’ beauty standard—an ideology presented to her by a past lover who convinced her that her light skin and ambiguous features are the only things desirable on her.

She urges the new generation of African girls to see the beauty and power carried within themselves rather than detest their uniqueness and will accomplish this by showing them that they are capable of anything if they believe in themselves. In order to further her reach to those in need, she plans to pursue a career in International Relations to better the lives of those who suffer unjustly in all corners of the globe.

Two of Nini’s biggest role models are her parents, Bella and Jesus, who have gone through heaven and earth to provide the best lives for their children through difficult circumstances. They have been excellent examples of people who stand strong in the face of adversity without shame of who they are and where they come from. Through their actions, they have shown Nini what it means to truly be proud of her heritage and through them she grew to become proud of who she is and where her roots came from. She like to consider herself, “The Second Bella”.