Two BusinessDay journalists, Caleb Ojewale and Isaac Anyaogu have emerged among winners at the Sanlam Awards for Excellence in Financial Journalism, which recently held in Sandton, South Africa.
They were among winners in the African Growth Story award category, which according to Sanlam has grown in stature since being established in 2013 and attracted the most entries for the second consecutive year. The Sanlam Award itself is now in its 45th year.
While Ojewale emerged first runner-up, Anyaogu was jointly awarded the second runners-up prize along with Omar Mohammed of Reuters News in Kenya. The first prize went to Tom Collins of African Business Magazine in Kenya.
In Ojewale’s entry; “On the flipside, a flawed policy creates unexpected ‘millionaires’”, the reporter travelled to Kebbi and Ebonyi states, to see if the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme of the Central Bank of Nigeria was yielding anything.
The CBN’s seemingly abandonment of its monetary policy responsibility on one hand, it was a story of dreams coming to life (for smallholder farmers), and how poverty in Nigeria and across Africa can be tackled, except going forward, such need to be driven by the right actors, with the right incentives, and absolute transparency.
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Anyaogu’s entry; ‘A fistful of poisoned gold’ exposed the dangers posed by gold miners in Niger state. His story called on authorities to move in and regulate the sector to save the lives of villagers. He has previously won in this same award category.
“A vibrant society needs strong media. In Africa, financial journalists have a profound impact in keeping us informed, helping to uncover corruption, tell our strong growth stories and act as watchdog for companies, government, markets and economy,” said Paul Hanratty, Sanlam Group CEO. “Against a background of change within their own industry, we commend the outstanding work these professionals do and look forward to continuing our support of the industry.”
Open to all journalists who practise in Africa, the African Growth Story prize recognises stories covering the significance of business and investment on the continent. Entries are required to focus on the growth of the continent in terms of investments, infrastructure development, economic progress and related topics.
This year a total of 113 entries were received for the awards, which were established by Sanlam 45 years ago in a bid to recognise and reward exceptional financial journalism. Entries judged were all produced in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, and spans the African continent.
