Kenyans dominate Africa’s Excellence in Media awards

The finalists in the 2015 ZIMEO Excellence in Media Awards competition have been announced with journalists from Kenya dominating the list with 15 entries, followed by their Burkina Faso counterparts with seven entries and then Nigerians with four. The result of this first edition of the competition was announced Wednesday in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, […]

The finalists in the 2015 ZIMEO Excellence in Media Awards competition have been announced with journalists from Kenya dominating the list with 15 entries, followed by their Burkina Faso counterparts with seven entries and then Nigerians with four.
The result of this first edition of the competition was announced Wednesday in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, where the organisers, African Media Initiative (AMI) said they launched the awards in June ‘to recognise excellence in journalism by rewarding stories that demonstrate high standards of professionalism and speak to the continent’s development issues.’
In all, the awards received a total of 557 entries from 41 countries across Africa, but the competition produced 57 finalists in 19 categories, drawn from 17 countries.
Kenya’s 15 finalists are mostly writers with Daily Nation newspaper and New Africa magazine, while The Punch is the star newspaper for Nigeria’s entries with Oketola Adedayo’s Power failure: Nigerians burn N17.5tn fuel on generators in five years; Bukola Adebayo’s Chinese Ankara chase Nigerian brands out of market, and Akinloye Adebayo Apollos’ Bittersweet Banking: World of Nigeria’s Mobile Traditional Bankers emerging finalists and Anthony Akaeze of Tell magazine achieving the same feat with his piece entitled, Lagos Ticking Time Bomb.
The awards’ categories focused on topics critical to quality of life issues in Africa such as agriculture, health, climate change, infrastructure, and maritime economy, and the winners will be announced at a Gala Awards Ceremony in Johannesburg, South Africa, on November 12, 2015 as part of this year’s African Media Leaders Forum, according to the organisers who indicated in their statement that judges who determined the 57 finalists were media practitioners drawn from across the continent.
“The judging panels were led by Chief Judges Dapo Olorunyomi, Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of Premium Times, Nigeria; Professor Levi Obonyo, Dean, School of Communications, Languages and Performing Arts at Daystar University, Kenya; Agnès Kraidy, senior journalist at Fraternité Matin, Cote d’ Ivoire; veteran Cameroonian journalist Alex Gustave Azebaze; Michael Didama, Managing Editor, Le Temps newspaper in Chad; veteran journalist Joachim Buwembo of Uganda; Kafu Kofi Tsikata, Senior Communications Specialist at World Bank in Ghana; and Tunisian based Lotfi Madani, former Chief Communications Specialist at the African Development Bank,” the statement disclosed.
It quoted AMI’s senior consultant and judging coordinator Wangethi Mwangi, as saying while announcing the finalists, “The quality of entries was impressive, and we believe the finalists represent a growing cadre of professionals who are committed to making an impact through journalism. This inaugural edition of the Zimeo awards has also been an eye-opener and will help us in identifying the gaps in media’s coverage of development issues on the continent.”