2016 African Blogger Award winners announced

Entries were open in five main categories including Africa’s Top Blogger, Top Instagrammer, Top Twitter Profile, Best Facebook Page and Top YouTuber, as well as across 20 sub-categories. Categories that saw the highest growth in entries included the Top Blog in Africa category which grew by 191% compared to 2015, and the Marketing, Media and Brand category, which grew by nearly 80%.

“This is the third year we’re running the African Blogger Awards competition, and every year we not only see an increase in the number of entries, but also in the quality of world-class content that the social media influencers are creating and sharing across their various platforms,” says Murray Legg, Global head of Strategy for Webfluential and co-founder of the African Blogger Awards.

The winners in the five main categories are:

• The best blog about Africa is Africa on the Rise from Nigeria;
• The best Instagrammer in Africa is Gareth Pon from South Africa, for the third consecutive year;
• The best Twitter personality in Africa is JJ Omojuwa from Nigeria;
• The best Facebook profile in Africa is Xtian Dela from Kenya, who was the 2015 best Twitter personality; and
• The best YouTube channel in Africa is Chris Rogers from South Africa.

The 2016 African Blogger Awards were sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This year saw the addition of three new categories - Women and Girls Empowerment, Public Health and Social Issues and Active Citizenship. The winners and runners up in these categories came from Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana, emphasizing the importance that online and social media play in highlighting social issues across the continent.

Winners in the three new categories are:

• Women and Girls Empowerment: Mummy Tales from Kenya, followed by Araba from Nigeria;
• Public Health: Nigeria Health Watch from Nigeria, followed by Ghana Health Nest from Ghana; and
• Social Issues and Citizenship: Africa on the Rise from Nigeria, followed by Circumspecte from Ghana.

“The Gates Foundation extends its congratulations to the winners in these three categories. The work you are doing to highlight both the great successes and continuing challenges facing African development is highly commendable. Your work has sparked conversations around sensitive issues and you have helped increase accountability in critical sectors like public health,” said Dr Ayo Ajayi, Africa director for the Gates Foundation.

“Perhaps the most powerful role that a medium like blogging plays is that it provides a platform for a diversity of voices. People on this continent are now actively sharing their own stories and that's a very positive and powerful thing.”

For more information, visit www.africanbloggerawards.com. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook or on Twitter.