We talk all things blogging with the founder of the African Blogger Awards.
What are the African Blogger Awards and when were they founded?
The African Blogger Awards aim to acknowledge the top African talent in the world of bloggers, YouTubers, Facebookers, Tweeters, and Instagrammers. These awards provide an opportunity to the most successful online influencers in Africa to be recognised for their hard work in growing and keeping their communities active and engaged. They were founded in 2014.
Why did you decide to start an award system for bloggers in particular?
Our aim is to broaden the industry for bloggers in Africa and allow brands to see the value of blogging as a marketing platform.
What has been the response to the awards across the continent?
The inaugural African Blogger Awards in 2014 set the benchmark for the discovery of truly exceptional African content creators and their unique storytelling approaches. We received over 1 000 entries from across the continent for this year’s awards, nearly doubling the number of entries received in 2014; therefore the response has been very positive.
What has been your biggest achievement regarding the awards?
We are pleased to see that this year more of the winners and runners-up were from other African countries such as Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and even Eritrea, proving the wide spread support and interest in the awards. Seeing the power of social media to tell a good story about Africa take centre stage in the digital age has been a very proud moment for us. No one can dispute that the continent is taking charge of its own narrative, and the African Blogger Awards is another tool to share and tell authentic African stories for Africans by Africans.
How did you select BONA as one of your runners-up?
Our aim with these awards is to keep the judging process as fair as possible by minimising the human element. We simply want influencers to keep doing what they do best – blogging, tweeting, Facebooking, Instagramming, and YouTubing. The awards are not a popularity contest; therefore influencers do not win by asking their readers, friends and followers to vote for their respective platforms. BONA was selected as a runner-up purely by tracking the page’s specific engagement and readership, and then comparing that to the other pages in the same category. We could then ascertain a winner and BONA as a runner-up.
What does it take to run a blog that is worthy of the African Blogger awards?
It takes great talent and skill set in Blogging, YouTubing, Facebooking, Tweeting and Instagramming. These awards provide an opportunity to the most successful online influencers in Africa to be recognised.
What challenges have you experienced in running these awards?
Due to the fact that the awards are only in their second year, we would like to secure sponsors in order to further their reach and credibility.
What advice do you have for young bloggers?
To blog harder and more regularly and use their platforms as a place to express themselves and communicate their thoughts, ideas and authentic stories.
