With 5 days before entries close for the 2019 Sanlam (https://www.Sanlam.com/) Financial Journalist of the Year Awards at midnight on 28 February, reporters practising financial journalism in Africa are encouraged to submit their best work for the competition.

The Awards, running for the 45^th consecutive year, recognise the best financial reporting by reporters based in Africa, publishing or broadcasting commendable journalism about the continent. Representing the longest running awards dedicated to financial journalism in Africa, their objective is to support the development of journalism.

The Awards attract keen interest from journalists across the continent. In 2018, 78 journalists representing 58 media organisations submitted 97 entries.

Entrants must submit their submissions through Sanlam’s website: http://bit.ly/2VfcTdI

The African Growth Story category, which recognises the best journalism covering the significance of business and investment on the continent, is open to financial journalists based in Africa who publish and/or broadcast their work on the region. Entries for this category must focus on the growth of the continent in terms of investment, infrastructure development, economic progress and related topics. Stories also should incorporate a continental outlook.

Previous winners of the African Growth Story category include Isaac Anyaogu of Business Day in Nigeria (2018), Dominic Omondi of The Standard newspaper in Kenya (2017), and Ancillar Mangena of Forbes Africa in South Africa (2016).

The other categories are open to journalists working in print, radio, TV and online media in South Africa. They are:

• Business/Companies
• Economy
• Financial Markets
• Consumer Financial Education

All five categories recognise financial journalists who produced compelling business stories between 1 January and 30 December 2019.

Additionally, the judging panel bestows special awards, which are:

• Best Newcomer;
• Lifetime Achievement; and
• Sanlam Financial Journalist of the Year.

The Special Awards recognise journalists based on the discretion of the judging panel, which exercises a nomination and rigorous evaluation process.

Isaac Anyaogu from the Business Day newspaper in Nigeria, and former Forbes Africa writers, Melitta Ngalonkulu (now with Moneyweb) and Aviwe Mtila (now with eNCA TV) are some of the recent Best Newcomer category winners for 2018, 2017, 2016 respectively.

Neville Otuki, former business reporter at Energy Siren News in Kenya and a runner up in the best newcomer category in 2018, says, “Society has critical business stories the public needs to know. It is important we amplify these stories. Being acknowledged by the awards for doing so is humbling and equally rewarding, not only for journalists but for our profession as well.”

Previous winners of the journalist of the year award include Rob Rose editor of Financial Mail (2018), Sikonathi Mantshantsha, former editor at Scorpio, the Investigative Unit of Daily Maverick (2017), and Susan Comrie of AmaBhungane (2016).

Information about the eligibility, criteria, and entry submission process for the awards are available at http://bit.ly/32kKCnL.