Dentaa, a Ghanaian TV personality resident in the United Kingdom, launched the awards in 2009, with the first event held in London, England, in October 2010.
Dentaa, GUBA President, got the idea to create the awards because she thought that "nothing out there" encouraged and appreciated the hard work and achievements of British Ghanaians.
The GUBA Awards ceremony attracts a high calibre of African political luminaries as well as business and entrepreneurial personalities.
[7] For the 2012 awards there were four judges: Charles Thompson, Mavis Amankwah (managing director of communications firm Rich Visions), Freddy Annan (CEO for BASE Management Group) and Sandra Teichman (a director in the London arm of US law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman).
The 2019 United States edition of the GUBA Awards was held under the theme "African Diaspora, the Catalyst for Growth and Innovation".
[9][10] In 2021, the awards were held in Ghana for the first time since its inception to celebrate the centenary of the death of Ghanaian historical warrior and hero Nana Yaa Asantewaa.