The purpose of the competition is to publicize the growth and innovation that is occurring in Africa. Grant winners can use the money to produce their stories for broadcast and publication. Past competitions have focused in the areas of agriculture, food security and health. This year's grant competition wants to publicize Africa's accomplishments in business growth.
In addition to content, research and investigation, story submissions will be judged on the use of multiple interactive applications to ensure the story reaches as many people as possible. As Joseph Warungu, Content Development Director for African Media Initiative (AMI), who is sponsoring the competition, explained, “This competition aims at encouraging and supporting African media to promote a better quality of life for our people by producing more and better stories on the issues that really matter.”
The African Story Challenge is sponsored by the African Media Initiative (AMI), Africa's largest organization of media owners and operators. It is supported by an $800,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
