The duo also won the Broadcast: TV and Video Award.  

The Best Newcomer Award went to Damilola Olufemi of The Punch newspaper in Nigeria.

Olufemi demonstrated creativity and insight in his financial reportage, according to the independent judging panel.

Ronald Adamolekun of the Premium Times newspaper in Nigeria won The African Growth Story category, representing the second year in a row that a journalist from the publication won the prize.

Yusuf Akinpelu, formerly with the Premium Times and now West Africa journalist with the BBC based in Lagos Nigeria, scooped both the African Growth Story and Financial Journalist of the Year Awards in the 2021 edition of the competition.

Open to journalists practising in Africa, the African Growth Story prize recognises stories covering significant trade and investment developments on the continent. Entries should cover the growth of the continent on topics including investments, infrastructure and economic development, according to the awards.

The Lifetime Achievement Award was bestowed to Dr Thami Mazwai, former editor of Sowetan, founding member of the South African National Editors' Forum and an advocate for grassroots entrepreneurship.

Established by Sanlam in 1974, the awards recognise exceptional financial journalism on the African continent. This year the judging panel received a total of 155 entries from journalists from across the African continent, compared to 89 received in 2022.

The chair of the independent adjudication panel Professor Nixon Kariithi was joined by:
  • Paula Fray, who retires from the panel after serving for nearly 10 years
  • Professor Ylva Rodny-Gumede
  • Ulrich Joubert
  • Charles Naude
  • Musa Zondi 
  • Angela Agoawike 
  • Aggie Asiimwe Konde
  • Rayborn Bulley
  • Tom Indimuli, and
  • Emily Brown.

Professor Kariithi says, "The independent judging panel always looks out for a submission that could be seen to be an exemplar for African financial journalism. As usual, the entries were robust and interesting, facilitating rigorous debates among the judges."

"The Sanlam Group Financial Journalist of the Year was unanimously selected by the judging panel as a piece of ground-breaking journalism and an example of brilliant video storytelling in the public interest, as well as an inspirational standard for the financial journalism community across the continent," concludes Kariithi.

The full list of winners and runners-up can be viewed here. 

For more information, visit www.sanlam.co.za. You can also follow the Sanlam Group Awards for Excellence in Financial Journalism on Facebook or on X.