Ghanaian perfume house Maison Yusif Fragrance won Innovative Luxury Fragrance Brand of the Year at the 2026 Ghana Industries and Manufacturing Awards (GIMA), extending a run of recognition in the category.
The exact title has shifted from year to year. Founder Yusif Meizongo Jnr has said the house picked up “Niche Perfume of the Year” and “Best Perfume Brand of the Year” honours at GIMA in 2023 and 2024, while a subsequent edition recognised it as “Perfume Manufacturing Company of the Year,” meaning this year’s win extends a streak of fragrance-related GIMA honours stretching back several editions rather than a single unchanged title.
Meizongo, a public relations graduate, founded the house in 2017, initially selling fragrances from the trunk of his car before opening a flagship store in Accra’s Kokomlemle neighbourhood. He has since studied perfumery in Cote d’Ivoire, Germany, Dubai, Turkey, France, Nigeria and Egypt, and holds a certification as an olfaction trainer from the International Perfume Foundation in France.
The house now sells more than 20 fragrances, composed and bottled by hand in Accra using imported raw materials alongside themes drawn from Ghanaian culture. Its best-known scents include Bad Influence, The Vatican, Exclusif and Apex.
The Vatican won Niche Perfume of the Year at France’s Perfumista Awards in 2023, making Maison Yusif the first Ghanaian fragrance house to win an international perfume prize. Apex is also carried by Flying Solo, a multi-label boutique in New York, giving the brand a retail presence outside Ghana.
In October 2024, the house unveiled nine new fragrances in a single event at Accra’s Marriott Hotel, a launch it billed as a first for an African perfumery brand. It added a tenth-anniversary-style release, The Beast, to its line in July 2026 as part of what Meizongo has described as a push toward global expansion.
Meizongo also runs the Home of Humanity Foundation, which directs a share of fragrance sales toward supporting the education of children in Zongo communities and has previously funded rehabilitation programmes for adults recovering from drug addiction.
