BusinessDay Shines at Diageo Awards

Diageo, the world’s leading premium Drinks Company, has announced the winners of the 2010 Africa Business Reporting Awards at a ceremony held recently in London. Among eleven awardees, BusinessDay newspaper clinched the Media of the Year award.
The winners selected from nine different countries include Peter Guest, editor of This Is Africa, named Journalist of the Year while Gemma Ware, who writes for The Africa Report, clinched the Best Newcomer title. Others include: Best Finance Feature ‘Ask Nigeria’s Lamido Sanusi’ written by David Stead and a team from BBC World Service; Best Infrastructure Feature ‘The Scramble for Blue Gold’ written by Kerry Dimmer for African Decisions, South Africa; and Best Business Feature Story ‘How Africa is Becoming the New Asia’ by Jerry Guo for Newsweek, USA.
Obiageli Ezekwesili, Vice President, Africa Region at the World Bank Group, who delivered the keynote address pointed out that the African media has to put more efforts into propagating the gospel of the business opportunities that abound on the continent. “The days of Africa being seen as a place where potential is yet to be realized, or just simply as a destination for aid, must be put behind us. The reality today is that Africa is a viable business destination with a large and mainly untapped market, offering excellent investment returns and diverse opportunities for business. That’s the untold story of Africa, and the media has an obligation to bring it to a wide audience,”  she said.
The winners received a bronze plague with “News” inscription by the sculptor Loni Kreuder and a cheque for £500 each.