Established in 1974 as a platform to recognise and celebrate excellence in financial journalism, the annual awards honour some of the finest journalism from across the continent.
In an ongoing effort to streamline the entry and judging process, slight format changes have been introduced. From this year, there will be one section with five categories open for entry: Business and Companies; Economy; Financial Markets; Consumer Financial Education and the African Growth Story.
In addition to the awards presented to winners in these categories, the judges will also decide on the best performers in each discipline/medium (online, print, radio and television) across all five categories. This means there will no longer be separate platform neutral and platform specific sections in the competition.
The special awards - Best Newcomer, Lifetime Achievement and Financial Journalist of the Year - remain unchanged and are decided on by the judging panel.
Entries will close on 29 February 2016, giving applicants more than two months to collate and submit their entries. Journalists can enter for all five categories but may only submit one entry per category, providing a minimum of three and maximum of five samples of their work for that particular entry.
Sanlam Group CEO, Ian Kirk, says that Sanlam is proud to continue its support of the awards; “The need for recognition is important in any industry. Financial journalists make an important contribution under sometimes challenging circumstances. As a proudly Pan-African financial services company, we are pleased to once again sponsor this prestigious competition which acknowledges financial journalists across Africa for their hard work, dedication and impressive reporting skills. We hope the Awards continue to encourage quality journalism that critically looks at and celebrates the continent’s growth.”
For the third consecutive year, the African Growth Story Award is up for grabs and is open to journalists from all African countries whose work is published and/or broadcast on the continent.
Kenya’s Business Daily journalist, Neville Otuki was awarded top honours as the Best Newcomer for 2014 based on his strong entry in the African Growth Story category.
The convener of the judging panel, Peter Vundla, says; “Over the years, we have seen a substantial increase in the number of entries for the Awards, which now include entries for the African Growth Story category. This category enables us to review some excellent work from the wider African media landscape and honour those who best respond to the essence of the category and its criteria. We encourage financial journalists to continue supporting the Awards by submitting their entries and showcasing their remarkable efforts.”
Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in Johannesburg in 2016. The judging panel will use the following criteria to evaluate entries: news value, impact, rigour in reporting, analytical value, originality, integrity, specialist knowledge and story-telling.