WAFRIC Awards 2026 Nominee Spotlight | Event Management Company of the Year | Senegal
Behind every memorable event is a network of decisions, coordinated teams and carefully managed details that audiences may never see. From the first invitation to the final guest departure, successful event management requires organisation, adaptability, creativity and the ability to turn a client’s vision into a seamless experience.
For entrepreneur Penda Dimé, founder of Event by P, this combination of planning and execution has become the foundation of a business operating between France and Senegal. Established in 2018, the agency has grown from organising smaller private occasions into handling corporate, institutional and large-scale events, while developing additional services in event staffing and professional training.
Her journey reflects the evolution of an entrepreneur who transformed a personal talent for bringing people together into a professional enterprise—and who is now building its presence within Senegal’s event industry.
From a Natural Talent for Organising to Entrepreneurship
Penda Dimé’s entry into event management began with a familiar experience: organising gatherings for family and friends.
As she took responsibility for birthdays, baby showers, restaurant outings and other occasions, she discovered an interest in coordinating people, planning details and finding solutions to make events work. What initially appeared to be a natural willingness to help gradually developed into a professional ambition.
Before fully pursuing her passion for events, Dimé worked in the financial sector in France. Her decision to move towards entrepreneurship meant leaving the familiarity of salaried employment to build a business around a field she had come to love.
She founded Event by P in 2018, developing the agency around a clear objective: creating events that are distinctive, well organised and memorable for the people attending them.
The transition from small private gatherings to professional event management required more than enthusiasm. It meant developing processes, working with suppliers, coordinating teams, managing budgets and responding to the practical challenges that accompany live events.
Over time, Event by P developed its services to accommodate both private clients and organisations, building a business that could operate across different types of events and client expectations.
Event by P: Creating Experiences from Concept to Completion
Event by P describes itself as an event-management agency operating across Paris and Dakar. Its services cover private celebrations such as weddings, birthdays and baby showers, alongside corporate occasions including conferences, product launches, fashion shows, inaugurations, seminars and professional gatherings.
The agency’s approach centres on managing the process from preparation through execution. This can include coordinating suppliers, overseeing logistics, arranging guest reception, managing on-site operations and ensuring that the different elements of an event work together.
Such work requires an understanding of both the creative and operational sides of event production. An attractive concept must be supported by practical planning, reliable suppliers, clear communication and the ability to respond when circumstances change.
For corporate and institutional clients, these details can directly affect the guest experience and the organisation’s public image. For private clients, they can determine whether an important personal occasion unfolds as intended.
Event by P’s business model brings these responsibilities together under one service, allowing clients to entrust the coordination of multiple elements to a professional team.
A Significant Responsibility: Coordinating a National Tribute in Senegal
One of the most substantial examples of Event by P’s work was its involvement in the national tribute to Amadou Mahtar Mbow, the distinguished Senegalese academic and former Director-General of UNESCO.
The tribute took place on 28 October 2025. In a professional account shared by Penda Dimé, she explained that Event by P worked with the relevant organisers and the Senegalese Presidency on the coordination of the event, which involved approximately 3,000 guests.
The agency’s responsibilities extended beyond conventional event decoration or planning. They included managing invitations, following up with guests, coordinating travel between Dakar and Diamniadio, overseeing entry and exit arrangements, coordinating operations on-site and supervising the foundation’s stand and book sales. The team also provided professional hostesses to support guest reception.
This assignment illustrates the operational complexity that can accompany a large institutional event. With thousands of guests and multiple stakeholders involved, coordination must be handled carefully to keep movement, communication and on-site responsibilities organised.
It also demonstrates the breadth of work that event-management agencies can undertake when trusted with formal occasions involving public institutions, foundations and large guest lists.
For Event by P, the project represented an opportunity to apply its event-coordination experience in a high-profile national setting.
Bringing Event Production to Senegal’s National Football Team
In May 2026, Event by P undertook another distinctive assignment: organising a team dinner for Senegal’s national football team, the Lions of Teranga, at the Stade Maître Abdoulaye Wade in Diamniadio.
The dinner, held on 26 May ahead of the team’s departure for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, was designed as a moment of cohesion for the players and coaching staff.
In describing the assignment, Dimé highlighted the challenge of transforming a stadium into an elegant, welcoming reception space suitable for the occasion. The task required coordination and attention to the atmosphere, guest experience and practical requirements of the event.
The project also demonstrated how event management can extend beyond traditional venues. A stadium is ordinarily associated with sport, but with the right planning and production, it can serve a different purpose and create an experience tailored to a particular audience.
For Event by P, the assignment connected event production with national identity and collective celebration. It also offered an opportunity to demonstrate Senegalese event-management expertise in a setting with considerable public interest.
Together with the agency’s institutional assignments, the dinner illustrates the range of environments in which event professionals must adapt their planning and execution to the purpose of each occasion.
Beyond Planning: Event Staffing and Professional Training
Event by P’s development has not been limited to organising occasions. The business has expanded into related services that address other needs within the events industry.
One area is event-hosting and guest-reception staffing. Professional hostesses can help manage arrivals, welcome attendees, provide information and support the organisation’s image from the moment guests arrive. At conferences and institutional events, this function can be an important part of the overall experience.
The agency has also developed Event by P Academy, a training initiative intended to prepare people interested in professionalising their skills in event management.
This extension reflects an understanding that the events industry relies on a wider ecosystem of trained professionals. Beyond the person leading an agency, successful productions depend on coordinators, hosts, logistics teams, suppliers and other specialists who understand their responsibilities.
By adding training to its services, Event by P is seeking to participate in the development of the profession as well as the delivery of events.
For aspiring event professionals, practical education can help bridge the gap between enjoying the organisation of celebrations and understanding the standards, processes and responsibilities required to deliver events commercially.
The training initiative also creates a potential avenue for transferring experience to the next generation of professionals entering the industry.
Building a Business Between France and Senegal
Event by P’s presence across Paris and Dakar is an important part of its business identity. The agency’s history in France and its subsequent development in Senegal give it experience across two markets, while its founder’s decision to establish herself in Dakar opened a new chapter in the company’s growth.
In announcing her move to Senegal, Dimé described her intention to develop the agency locally, build an event-hosting operation and create opportunities for young people. She also identified professional training as an area through which she could share her experience.
This expansion places the business within a wider conversation about entrepreneurship, professional expertise and the movement of skills between African and international markets.
The events industry depends on local knowledge, supplier relationships and the ability to understand the expectations of different clients. Operating across markets can broaden an agency’s experience, but it also requires adapting to each environment’s practical and cultural requirements.
For Event by P, its work in Senegal offers a way to develop relationships with local institutions, businesses and partners while continuing to draw on its established experience in France.
Its growth illustrates how an entrepreneurial venture can evolve from a founder’s personal passion into a business with multiple services and an expanding professional network.
The Work Behind the Experience
The visible elements of an event—its setting, guests, programme and atmosphere—are only one part of the story. Much of event management takes place before the doors open, through planning, communication, logistics and preparation for unexpected challenges.
That behind-the-scenes work is central to Event by P’s offering. Whether coordinating a private celebration, supporting a corporate conference or managing guest movement at a large institutional gathering, the agency’s responsibilities involve aligning people and processes around a shared objective.
Penda Dimé’s journey also highlights the entrepreneurial discipline involved in building a service business. A passion for organising events can provide the starting point, but developing an agency requires consistency, client relationships, operational knowledge and the ability to deliver across different assignments.
As Event by P continues developing its activities in Senegal, its combination of event management, staffing and training positions it to participate in several parts of the professional events ecosystem.
Event by P and the WAFRIC Awards 2026
The nomination of Event by P for Event Management Company of the Year at the WAFRIC Awards 2026, representing Senegal, recognises a business whose work connects creative planning with the practical demands of event delivery.
Under Penda Dimé’s leadership, the agency has developed from its 2018 beginnings into a company serving private, corporate and institutional clients across France and Senegal. Its documented assignments—including the 2025 national tribute to Amadou Mahtar Mbow and the May 2026 dinner for Senegal’s national football team—illustrate the breadth of its event-coordination work.
The agency’s expansion into event-hosting services and Event by P Academy also reflects an ambition to contribute to the wider professional environment in which events are produced.
The WAFRIC Awards 2026 edition carries the theme “Recognizing the Unseen. Celebrating the Exceptional.” Through this year’s nominee spotlights, WAFRIC celebrates West African individuals and enterprises whose work contributes to their industries and communities.
Your vote. Their impact. Support Event by P in the WAFRIC Awards 2026 public voting.
🗳️ Vote through the official WAFRIC Awards voting page.
For details on how winners are selected, read the WAFRIC Awards 2026 voting procedures and criteria. Public votes contribute to the process, but votes alone do not determine the final winner. The final selection also considers nominees’ achievements, contributions and impact in line with the published criteria.
WAFRIC Awards 2026 — Recognizing the Unseen. Celebrating the Exceptional.