Diageo Africa Business Reporting Awards 2010 - Finalists Announced

Finalists from Nine Countries

Winners to be announced at gala ceremony in London on 1st July

11 May 2010

The best of African business journalism will go into the final of the Diageo Africa Business Reporting Awards, with the announcement of the shortlist across eleven categories. Diageo, the world's leading premium drinks business, today announced the finalists in the seventh annual awards ceremony following a record number of entries.

More than 750 entries were received from 20 countries across Africa and the rest of the world. A panel of eminent judges will now select the winners of each category, who will be announced at a gala ceremony in London on Thursday 1st July, 2010.

The judging panel brings together global experts from the field of media, business, as well as pan-African initiatives and organisations. The 2010 judges include:

Ms. Zeinab Badawi, International news broadcaster
Dr. Shantayanan Devarajan, Chief Economist of the World Bank’s Africa Division
Mr. Stephen King, Investments Director at The Omidyar Foundation
Commissioner Louis Michel, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid
Professor Wiseman Nkuhlu, former CEO of New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)
Dr Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, Chairman of the NEPAD Business Group and Executive President of the African Business Roundtable
Mr. Paul Walsh (Chair), CEO of Diageo
Baroness Shriti Vadera, G20 Advisor and former Minister for Business and Competitiveness in Gordon Brown’s Government

Ms. Obiageli Ezekwesili, Vice President of the World Bank Africa Region, will present as the keynote speaker at the awards ceremony. Ezekwesili is a Nigerian chartered accountant and co-founder of Transparency International. She served as Federal Minister of Solid Minerals and then as Federal Minister of Education in Nigeria during the second term presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo.
The finalists are (in no particular order):

BEST ICT FEATURE
‘Youths on a mission to light up Kibera slums using solar power’ Zachary Ochieng (CIO, East Africa)
‘Series on Business & Technology’ Michael Dynes (Africa Investor, UK)
‘Zimbabwe catches on to Facebook’ Andrew Meldrum (Global Post, USA)

BEST FINANCE FEATURE
‘Ask Nigeria’s Lamido Sanusi’ David Stead and team (BBC World Service, Africa Have Your Say, UK)
‘Investor Relations Management in East Africa’ Andrea Bohnstedt (Ratio Magazine, Kenya)
‘Leveraging Africa's Diaspora remittances’ Sanou Mbaye (Les pages de Sanou Mbaye, Various)

BEST INFRASTRUCTURE FEATURE
‘The Bujagali Hydro’ Alex Halperin (This is Africa, UK)
‘The Politics of Power’ Suzanne Beukes (CNBC Africa, South Africa)
‘The Scramble for Blue Gold’ Kerry Dimmer (African Decisions, South Africa)

BEST AGRIBUSINESS / ENVIRONMENT FEATURE
‘Home Grown’ Murray Hunter (African Decisions, South Africa)
‘Hunger looms as biofuels take root in Uganda’ Francis Kagolo (New Vision, Uganda)
‘Kenya rainmakers called to the rescue to combat climate change’ Jean-Marc Mojon (Agence France-Presse, Kenya/France)

BEST TOURISM FEATURE
‘Prospectus’ Darren Kerr (CNBC Africa, South Africa)
‘Land grabbing: The plunder of public beaches’ Philip Mwakio (The Financial Journal, Kenya)
‘A Golden Opportunity’ Lanre Akinola (This Is Africa, UK)

BEST USE OF NEW MEDIA IN A STORY
‘White Poverty in South Africa’ Finbarr O’Reilly (Reuters, South Africa/UK)
‘Series on Business in Africa’ Bunmi Oloruntoba (A Bombastic Element, USA)
‘Spark Africa Series’ Peter Vlam (Africa Interactive, Various)

BEST BUSINESS NEWS STORY
‘China Takes African Market by Storm’ Felix Dela Klutse (Daily Guide Newspaper, Ghana)
‘Farewell Mobitelea’ Bankelele (Bankelele, Kenya)
‘Adenuga’s Conoil owes N100 billion in taxes’ Clara Nwachukwu (NEXT, Nigeria)

BEST BUSINESS FEATURE STORY
‘The Engine Room’ Peter Guest (This is Africa, UK)
‘How Africa is Becoming the New Asia’ Jerry Guo (Newsweek, USA)
‘Tendai Biti’ Robyn Curnow (CNN African Voices, South Africa)

BEST NEWCOMER
Pia Minchener (African Decisions, South Africa)
Gemma Ware (The Africa Report, France)
Daniel Osunkoya (NEXT, Nigeria)

MEDIA OF THE YEAR
This is Africa (Financial Times, UK)
Enterprise Kenya (Kenya Television Network, Standard Group, Kenya)
Business Day Nigeria (Johnnic Communications, Nigeria)

JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Peter Guest (This is Africa, UK)
Alex Duval Smith (Jeune Afrique/Guardian Observer, UK)
Rob Rose (Financial Mail, South Africa)

Commenting on this year's awards, Nick Blazquez, Managing Director, Diageo Africa said, “These finalists represent those who are leading the way in international business reporting on Africa. The shortlisted entrants have gone the extra mile in reporting the opportunities and challenges of doing business in Africa and have thoroughly investigated issues that matter to business communities locally, regionally and internationally.”
“The record breaking number of entries from across the globe reflects the increase in business reporting on Africa in 2009/2010, but the type of reports have also indicated a shift in the way that news is being delivered to audiences with many more entrants being online citizen journalists and bloggers. With over 750 entries this year, those shortlisted in their category should be immensely proud of their achievements and contribution to promoting a more accurate understanding of the business environment in Africa,” continued Blazquez.

ENDS

CONTACT INFORMATION

Jo Crawshaw
africapractice, Awards Secretariat
+44 (0)20 7209 7507
jcrawshaw@africapractice.com

Natasha Vromen
Diageo Africa
+44 (0)20 8978 2734
natasha.vromen@diageo.com

About Diageo

Diageo is the world's leading premium drinks business with an outstanding collection of beverage alcohol brands across spirits, wines, and beer categories. These brands include Johnnie Walker, Guinness, Smirnoff, J&B, Baileys, Cuervo, Tanqueray, Captain Morgan, Crown Royal, Beaulieu Vineyard and Sterling Vineyards wines.
Diageo is a global company, trading in more than 180 countries around the world. The company is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (DGE). For more information about Diageo, its people, brands, and performance, visit us at Diageo.com. For our global resource that promotes responsible drinking through the sharing of best practice tools, information and initiatives, visit DRINKiQ.com.

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Diageo Africa
Diageo Africa is active, particularly in brewing, but also in distilling, in the majority of the sub-Saharan African countries. For Guinness, in particular, the connection with Africa is a long one; the first recorded exports of Guinness to Africa were to Sierra Leone in 1827. Now Guinness is brewed in over 20 countries throughout Africa and is exported to many others. The popularity of the brand is going from strength to strength in Africa - Nigeria is the second largest Guinness market in the world. Diageo brands are enjoyed in more than 40 African countries.

Diageo Africa region is responsible for nearly a third of Diageo's net sales of beer globally, and with over 4,500 employees accounts for around 15 per cent of Diageo's workforce worldwide.

Several of the larger Diageo companies in Africa are quoted on local stock exchanges. Guinness Nigeria, for example, has over 60,000 shareholders. All of these companies have active corporate social responsibility programmes, covering initiatives in water, health, education and other areas of value to the communities in which we operate.