Winner: Winner HIV/AIDS Reporting Award and CNN MultiChoice African Journalist 2008
Bio: Hopewell founded Television International, Zimbabwe in 2005 to produce and direct documentaries. He gained an HND in Mass Communications at Zimbabwe Institute of Mass Communication (1991-1993) and worked as a freelance music journalist. He was a Media Executive at Sky High Music and Faraday Communications becoming a broadcast journalist for international media organisations including the BBC. Further studies have seen him obtain an MA in International Broadcast Journalism (City University 1999-2000) and another in Documentary Filmmaking (Brunel University 2006-2007).
Winner: Arts & Culture Award
Bio: Currently working as a television reporter for NTV Uganda, researching and editing news stories and features, Barbara Angopa focuses on marginalised groups and post-conflict communities. Her broadcast career began with a training scheme for BBC Radio Oxford followed by BBC World Service Trust as a Researcher. Since returning to Uganda she has freelanced as a radio documentary researcher, taking up her current position for NTV in 2006. She followed her BA Hons in History (Bristol 1992-1995) with a PGDip in Broadcast Journalism (University of Westminster 2000-2001).
Winner: Television News Bulletin Award
Bio: Head of the Political Desk at Channels Television, where he has worked since 2004, Deji Badmus produces and presents, Politics Today. Since graduating from Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Nigeria with a degree in Mass Communication, Deji joined Nigerian network, Taraba Television in 2003 where he took on roles as a News Anchor, Reporter, Producer and Presenter. He won the Diamond Awards for Excellence, Television Reporter of the Year in 2005 and in the same year picked up the Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting.
Winner: MIH Print Africa Award for Consumer Magazine Feature
Bio: Marjorie's love of writing began at an early age and she obtained a university degree in London. A keen traveller, she used her 'gap year' to discover India and decided to stay on there taking a job as a copywriter for the internationally renowned advertising agency, J Walter Thompson. During this time Marjorie began contributing to publications as a travel writer. Her career experience has seen her take on a Public Relations role for the Tongaat Group when she moved to South Africa. Now, living in Durban she continues to contribute features and articles for a variety of magazines.
Winner: Economics & Business Award
Bio: Investigative freelance journalist and documentary maker, John Grobler, contributes to Reuters, The Associated Press, the South African Mail & Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Namibian, Africa Confidential and SABC among others. He won the Namibia Media Award in 1995 and was awarded the Alfred Friendly Press Fellowship, spending six months with the New York Times. Prior to this he worked at the Windhoek Observer, South African Press Association, the Mozambique Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and the Namibian Broadcast Corporation. He has a BA in English, German and Psychology (University of Stellenbosch 1983-1987).
Winner: Radio General News Award
Bio: Israel Laryea hosts Crime Alert and Business Trends at Joy FM where he is involved in news gathering, live reporting and news anchoring. He began his career as Assistant Manager for Magvlyn Industries having graduated with a BA in Marketing from Greenhill College, GIMPA. He was Production Assistant with TV3 Network soon appearing on screen as News Presenter and becoming instrumental in the success of flagship breakfast programme The Super Morning Show. He has been voted Best TV Personality, Male (Ashanti region) in 2002 and was the anchor of Ghana's first, live TV Breaking News broadcast.
Winner: Portuguese Language General News Award
Bio: Fernando Lima is currently the Director of Mediacop, the cooperative for journalists in Mozambique, where he has been an active member and journalist since 1991. After extensive studies in politics and journalism in prestigious universities, such as Harvard and Universidade Catolica in Lisbon, Fernando has devoted himself to journalism, working on the radio and in the press as well as participating in a number of regional and international journalism forums. He is at present the president of the 'Media Forum for ACP Countries' in Brussels and an active member of the 'International Consortium of Investigative Journalists'. Fernando also works as a consultant and is a professor of journalism in Mozambique.
Winner: Economics Award
Bio: Emmanuel is currently the Assistant Editor and Head of Investigations at The Sun newspaper, Lagos. Prior to this he worked as Senior Correspondent for National Interest newspaper, Editor at Security and Safety Magazine and was a reporter for African Concord. He won first prize in the Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Journalism two years running, and in 2006 he also won Press Reporter of the Year, Agric Reporter of the Year and Newspaper Features Writer of the Year. After earning an HND in Electrical Engineering in The Federal Polytechnic, Bida, Emmanuel began as a newspaper journalist specialising in travel and tourism as well as the environment.
Winner: Print General News Award
Bio: Currently Business and News Editor of the Sunday Citizen, Richard has been at the newspaper group since 2004 in a variety of roles including Senior Staff Writer and Bureau Chief. After graduating from Moi University with a BA Education degree (1993-1996), he became a teacher before completing a Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Journalism (WITS University, Johannesburg 2006). He started as a journalist with the Habarai Corporation as a Staff Writer in 2000 and was a Special Correspondent for The East African, becoming International Correspondent for African Business magazine and Radio Deutsche Welle.
Winner: Television Features Award
Bio: Peter Moyo, from Zimbabwe, joined e.tv in Johannesburg in 2004 and has risen from Publicity Writer to Senior Investigative Reporter. Prior to this he worked as a publicist, a freelance journalist and a website administrator. He has written for various publications including, The Standard, The Star, City Press and The Sunday World. After completing his Mass Communications and Journalism Diploma at the Christian College of Southern Africa in Harare, Peter was awarded a certificate in Economic Reporting from World Bank Outreach.
Winner: MSD Health & Medical Award
Bio: Bamuturaki Musinguzi is currently Correspondent for New African magazine where he has worked since 2004. Following a Diploma in Journalism (Uganda Management Institute 1996-1997), he continued his training attending a series of workshops and seminars exploring different aspects of the profession. Musinguzi has been a freelance writer for The Tribune, The Independent, The People, New Times, The New Vision, Daily Monitor, The East African and The Other Voice and his broadcast experience includes Tooro FM, as a News Reporter and freelance work for Global News Radio. In 2006 he received a commendation in the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards.
Winner: Sport Award
Bio: Mutwiri Mutuota is Sports Reporter for one of East Africa's leading dailies, Standard Newspapers which he joined in 2007. After attending a three-year Diploma course in Broadcast Journalism at the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication, Ezira was an intern at the Kenya News Agency, Nyeri Bureau. This preceded a position as Sports writer for The Weekly Sun, and a role as Sports Writer, Editor and photographer for The Kenyan Spectator. Ezira joined The Kenya Times and rose to Associate Sports Editor, producing the weekly sports magazine, Sports Plus.
Mohamed Amin Photographic Award
Bio: Boniface has a Print Journalism Diploma (East Africa School of Journalism 2004-2006). He joined The Standard Newspaper in Nairobi in 2005 as a Correspondent Photojournalist and is now a staff photojournalist with the same publication. His photographs, covering daily events and news stories, have been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Sunday Times, The International Herald Tribune and BBC Focus on Africa magazine. In 2004 he won two Journalist of the Year awards: Most promising Young Talent of the Year and Most Promising Young Photographer in Kenya.
Winner: Francophone General News Electronic Media Award
Bio: Koumouréoua is a journalist at Radiodiffusion-Télévision du Burkina and is involved in the organization of cultural programming. Previous to this he worked on artistic and musical programs with the association "Vent D'Echange" in France and Burkina Faso and Edition Telli Komba which is a specialist in artistic and musical productions. Napon completed a degree in communications from the University of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso and in 2006 Napon won the "Laureat du prix Gallian" in the radio category.
Winner: Tourism Award
Bio: Evaline has been a journalist at CRTV-Yaoundé since 1985. She has written, produced and presented a series of TV programmes covering a different range of topics. Evaline has recently completed certificates in communications and journalism from the Institut des Communicateurs Aricains in Egypt and Radio France International in France. She was also part of the founding team which launched Radio Reine, a private radio station in Cameroon.
Winner: Francophone General News Print Award
Bio: Nassima has been a journalist at the Jeune Indépendant since 2003, having previously worked at both Le Quotidien d'Algérie and La Presse Initiative. Based on her submission to the 2006 CNN MultiCHoice African Journalist award she was selected to participate in the Kaiser family foundation HIV/AIDS prevention workshops in Maputo and Toronto. And in 2007 she received a diploma from the United Nations in Amman for her participation in a workshop relating to humanitarian development.
Recipient Free Press Africa Award
Bio: Seyhoum has been a pioneering photographer/cameraman and journalist in Eritrea since 1975. He has been in prison since 2001, for a critical article he wrote for the newspaper, Setit, sympathetic to the politicians and journalists who were imprisoned by the Government. He expected to be arrested, but he wanted to fight for press freedom in his country. Earlier in his career he helped develop Eritrean TV, working as a director and establishing TV transmission in the Red Sea port, Assab. In the mid-1990s he worked for the Ministry of Information and is best known for a documentary broadcast on Eritrean TV entitled: Fighter-Cameraman which portrays the courage of cameramen who fight and film in dangerous wartime situations.
Runner-Up: Economics & Business Award
Bio: Lucas Ajanaku has worked for Tell Communications, an online weekly magazine since 2005. He is currently a Senior Business Reporter, newsgathering and writing features and prior to this he worked at Business Times as Business Correspondent. After gaining a BA in English Studies from Obafemi Awolowo University (1992-1997) he worked for the Federal Road Safety Commission and was an English teacher before working for The Post Express as a Sports Reporter and The News magazine as a Reporter and Researcher.
Runner-Up: HIV/AIDS Reporting Award
Bio: Currently, Kennedy Gondwe is a freelance contributor to some of Zambia's major publications including Africa Today and African Soccer magazine. For almost ten years Kennedy worked for Zambia's biggest independent daily newspaper, The Post covering a vast range of topics including politics, sports, entertainment and education. He gained a Certificate in Journalism (Evelyn Hone College, Lusaka 2000) and followed this with a Diploma in Journalism and Public Relations from the same college (2004-2006). He is studying for a Law degree with the Zambia Open University.
Runner-Up: Arts & Culture Award
Bio: Mwondoshah Mfanga is Chief Sub Editor of The Guardian newspaper which he first joined in 2003 as a Sub Editor. Prior to this he was Features Editor for The African newspaper and spent time at Leo ni Leo, Majira, Business Times and African Vision Associates. The Media Council of Tanzania appointed him as Media High Court Assessor in 2007. His academic qualifications include a BA in Political Science, Economics and Public Administration and an MA in International Relations from the University of Dar Es Salaam
Runner-Up: Environment Award
Bio: For the last four years Daniel has been a news reporter and features writer with Daily Graphic and alongside this work he is Communications Advisor to a variety of NGOs based in Ghana. Prior to this he was an intern in the Communications Office of the United Nations Development Programme and has also worked as a reporter for Kotoko Express, Exciting Ebony and Accra Daily Mail. He graduated from the University of Ghana with a BSc and studied for an MA in Communication studies at the same university.
Runner-Up: Print General News Award
Bio: Godwin Nnanna's freelance activity covers print, broadcast and online media for a variety of international and local media outlets. Over the last ten years he has established himself as a correspondent for print publications including, The Post Express, Business Day, The Africa Report and Vanguardia Dossier. His broadcast experience includes BBC World Service and Nigeria Television Authority and he contributes to the websites: Open Democracy, China Dialogue and Black Britain. Godwin has an HND in Mass Communication from Auchi Polytechnic, Edo, Nigeria and has won a variety of awards for his work.
Runner-Up: MSD Health & Medical Award
Bio: Sasha is a researcher, director and producer of current affairs documentaries and has worked for SABC3 since 2005. Her TV career started in 1999 with APTN where she was Field Producer and Director covering stories concerning Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Britain, Germany, Bosnia and Turkey. She went on to work for Different Kind of Television, Television Espanola and SABC2. Sasha has a BA in Development Studies from UAE and as well as her documentaries she has directed a number of short films.