Judges announced for 2019 Pan African Re/Insurance Journalism Awards
Wilson joined Sky TV at its inception in 1989 and for over 20 years he was a main anchor for Sky’s coverage of major business events. Since leaving Sky, he has broadcast for the BBC, ITV, Fox News, Al-Jazeera and Arise Networks - a global television service aimed at Africa.
Other judges include, Nadia Mensah-Acogny, a Forbes Afrique journalist who was the chair of the 2018 Awards and Kenneth Igbomor, market news editor, CNBC West Africa.
The 2019 edition will see entry of new judges, namely, Gareth Stokes, a professional freelance finance journalist, who won the Pan African Journalist of the Year award in 2017 and the special award in 2018; Dr Jared Obuya, an experienced journalist who has worked with several Kenyan and international news organisations and is currently a communications lecturer at Moi University; and Shiamdass Appannah, an African insurance market expert. Appannah is the founding partner and director/consultant, former CEO and former chairman of the Reinsurance Solutions Group companies in Mauritius, Kenya, Cote D'Ivoire and London, UK.
“This year, we bring together a highly experienced panel of judges to adjudicate the submissions. We hope that their expertise will inspire more journalists to improve their writing in matters insurance in Africa to ensure accurate reporting of insurance topics,” said Dr Femi Oyetunji, group managing director, Continental Reinsurance Plc.
Awards deadline
The awards are currently open for submissions to both English and French-speaking print, broadcast and online journalists covering the re/insurance sector in Africa. Deadline for submissions of entries is November 30, 2018 and interested journalists are required to enter one article per category. The 2019 Award categories are - Pan-African Re/Insurance Journalist of the Year, Best Re/Insurance Print Article, Best Re/Insurance Broadcast (TV/Radio) Article and the new award, Best Re/Insurance Online Article.
The judging criteria will focus on how the entries have raised awareness and understanding of Re/ Insurance Sector and displayed integrity in covering the sector. They will also be judged according to how participating journalists have sourced new data or analysed existing data to make it relevant to regional, national and local audiences; effectively analysed a current news story or other noteworthy insurance issues as well as used, analysed and presented statistics to investigate a particular issue in Re/ Insurance Sector.
The journalism awards were initiated in 2015 by Continental Reinsurance to recognise and acknowledge the good work of media on the continent. Journalists are required to demonstrate how their articles raised awareness and understanding of the re/insurance sector in Africa.
