Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, is set to host journalists from across Africa at the 2015 edition of the CNN/Multichoice African Journalists Awards.
The three-day celebration of journalists will begin from 8 October and end on 10 October with lots of events lined up to reward journalists for their contribution to the society and mankind.
This year’s awards ceremony is a milestone because it is the 20th edition of the CNN/Multichoice African Journalists Awards.
The first edition took place in Ghana on 11 August, 1995. Being the maiden edition, it was modest with just six winners, coming from Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda.
The following year, the award ceremony did not hold due to the death of Mohamed Amin, a Kenyan photojournalist in 1996. From then on Johannesburg played host to the Awards from 1997 to 2004, as the competition expanded to include additional categories and languages.
Subsequently, the CNN/Multichoice African Journalists Awards has turned out to be one of the biggest and most credible platforms for rewarding journalistic excellence across Africa.
The 2014 edition which took place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, was testament to the growing stature of the award ceremony. Not only did the 2014 competition attract almost 1,300 entries from 38 African countries but also the event was graced by his Excellency Jakaya Kikwete, President of Tanzania.
This year’s edition witnessed more entries with 1,429 journalists from 39 countries entering for the competition.
Journalists will win prizes in the following categories: Culture Award, Dow Technology & Innovation Reporting Award, Economics & Business Award, Features Award, Francophone General News Award, GE Energy & Infrastructure Award, Mohamed Amin Photographic Award, MSD Health & Medical Award, Portuguese Language General News Award, Press Freedom Award, Sport Reporting Award, The African Development Bank Environment Award and The Coca-Cola Company News Impact Award.
