The International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ) has named the Investigative Editor of HumAngle, Nigeria, Kunle Adebajo and a freelance journalist based in Zimbabwe, Farai Shawn Matiashe as joint winners of the 2023 Michael Elliott Award for Excellence in African Storytelling.
Adebajo and Matiashe won the award with a report that investigated the lives of kidnapped schoolgirls now in university in Nigeria and another who chronicled how rising temperatures in Zimbabwe are impacting an all-women fishing cooperative respectively.
“I was almost brought to tears when I received this news days ago. I’d dreamed of this moment ever since I read Abubakar Adam Ibrahim’s fantastic winning entry in 2018 and am super grateful to the ICFJ, the Michael Elliott family and all the jurors for the recognition,” Adebajo wrote in a tweet responding to the announcement.
The full ICFJ announcement is below:
Adekunle Adebajo’s winning story, “Keeping Up With The Chibok Girls,” examines the fate of some of the students kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014 who later escaped or were released from captivity. Adebajo, who is an investigative editor at HumAngle, reported that many of the survivors enrolled in Nigerian universities today have not received adequate support and face an array of challenges, including discrimination.
Farai Shawn Matiashe, whose reporting focuses on environmental, political and business issues in Africa, wrote a gripping story for CNN about an all-women fishing cooperative on the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe, the first such group in the community. Matiashe describes how climate change is affecting the pioneering cooperative, jeopardizing the empowerment and economic stability that fishing has granted its members so far.
The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), in partnership with the ONE Campaign and the Elliott family, gives out the prestigious Elliott Award. It was established in 2016 in honor of Michael Elliott, an outstanding editor and philanthropist whose life was a testament to the power of storytelling to bear witness to and improve the human condition.
The prize aims to advance the work of emerging journalists in Africa who strive to strengthen people’s voices and improve their well-being. Previous winners include Mercy Juma and Dorcas Wangira of Kenya; Bernadette Vivuya of the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Khalid Bencherif of Morocco; Nalova Akua of Cameroon; and Abubakar Ibrahim, Kiki Mordi and Zainab Bala of Nigeria. These talented journalists have uncovered child labour in mines, exposed sexual harassment in universities, the fight against female genital mutilation, and more.
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Adebajo and Matiashe will receive a cash prize and take part in a customized professional development program at The Economist headquarters in London.
“Adekunle Adebajo and Farai Shawn Matiashe took great care to report these powerful stories, shining a light on inspiring women working to improve their conditions and the incredible challenges that they face,” said Emma Oxford, Michael Elliott’s widow. “I am grateful to the many individuals and institutions who honor Michael with their continued support for the program. I am also grateful to The Economist for hosting the winners again this year: I know that Adekunle and Farai will have an unforgettable experience in London, and I warmly congratulate them.”
“We had a strong field of entries in this year’s Michael Elliott Award and two outstanding winners,” said Lionel Barber, former editor of the Financial Times and author of The Powerful and the Damned, who chaired the international panel that selected Adebajo and Matiashe from among 206 applicants. “Adekunle Adebajo and Farai Shawn Matiashe produced fearless reporting and vivid storytelling on matters of human justice and environmental degradation in Nigeria and Zimbabwe respectively. I salute them on behalf of the judges and wish them every success in their careers.”