The 2024 finalists of the prestigious WCJ / AIJC African Investigative Journalist of the Year Award have been selected, recognising tenacious, hard-hitting examples of investigative reporting from and about Africa.
“Investigative journalists from across Africa gave our judging panel a most challenging time in their task of deciding the top spots for the AIJC awards this year,” says Gwen Lister, convenor of judges for the awards.
“The diversity of the entries and the depth of investigative work which is happening in print, television and online on a wide variety of difficult topics, is both commendable and encouraging. And while as we celebrate the high overall standard of entries in general and the finalists in particular, we also look forward with excitement to showcasing the winners at the awards dinner of the 20 th African Investigative Journalism Conference on October 31.”
The finalists (in no particular order) are:
- “The 3 billion Ghanaian cedi lie & the billion-dollar contract” – produced by Manasseh Azure Awuni, Adwoa Adobea-Owusu, Evans Aziamor-Mensah from The Fourth Estate
- “The Russian Doll” – produced by Hennie van Vuuren from Open Secrets
- “How Congo trees are smuggled through East Africa” – produced by Blanshe Musinguzi from The Africa Report
Beyond this difficult selection of three finalists, the judges also felt it necessary to especially commend the following pieces from among the great many entries received again this year.
Highly commended:
- Swazi Secrets, an investigation into the outsized role played by Eswatini in illicit financial flows globally, produced by ICIJ, amaBhungane and Open Secrets.
- Series of environmental investigations into the harmful effects of mining practices on communities, by Oscar Nkala for Oxpeckers.
- Camouflaged Crimes, a four-part series investigating the lack of accountability faced by British troops stationed in Kenya, by Ngina Kirori for NTV Kenya.
- MACOFA, the institutional failure of Ghana’s health ministry in regulating herbal and traditional medicine, by Kwaku Krobea Asante and Adwoa Adobea-Owusu for The Fourth Estate.
The award, supported by Absa, recognises outstanding examples of investigative reporting that reveal untold stories, hold the powerful to account, question those in public life and serve the public interest. The prize in 2024 is US$5,000.
