The panel is often asked what the judges said about winning entries and with that in mind, here are the citations for three winners from the 2023 awards.

1.     Best Newcomer, joint award: Abdulkareem Mojeed of Premium Times, Nigeria; Ephraim Modise of TechCabal, Nigeria; and Innocent Samuel Muhindo of The Observer, Uganda.

"The winning journalists brought not simply youth but also great reporting and bright insights in their journalism. The judges were compelled to award these three promising financial journalists from across the continent. For this reason, for the first time ever, we have joint winners of the Best Newcomer category."

2.    African Growth Story: Mahamadi Sebogo of Sidwaya, Burkina Faso.

"For instructive reporting on how poor communities have adapted best practice farming techniques to foster sustainable agricultural development, serving as a model for societies elsewhere in Africa."

3.    Business and Companies: Dewald van Rensburg, Micah Reddy, and Sam Sole of amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism.

"For robust and well researched investigative reporting that demystified dense financial documents to reveal how businessmen and politicians made dubious multi-million-dollar transactions that undercut Zimbabwe's ailing state and economy."

Here is an example of one of the winning stories for inspiration

Visit the awards website at this link for more information and submit your entry. Entries close 31 March 2025 #SanlamAwards