A senior official of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), Bakary Kone has given glowing acknowledgement of the excellent journalism that Emmanuel K Dogbevi does. Particularly, his unrivaled coverage of the subject of capacity building – the core mandate of ACBF, a specialised agency of the African Union Commission.
Kone gave the tribute on the night of May 10, 2024 in one of the ballrooms of the newly constructed Glee Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, during the AllAfrica Media Excellence Awards after handing the award to Dogbevi.
The awards ceremony was part of the AllAfrica Media Leaders Summit held from May 8 to 10, 2024.
With some glitz and soothing ambiance, under scintillating live music provided by an all-female band, Wololo, the red carpet event was held to honour some of Africa’s iconic journalists and media practitioners. Some young journalists were also honoured.
After he gave the African Capacity Building Foundation Award to Dogbevi, Kone took the stage and said, “He writes excellently about the results of capacity development.”
Listen to the audio attached.
“One thing I want to say is that it’s not easy to write about capacity building results because of the intangibility of those results. If you are building infrastructure, you can say this is the road, it is 1000km long and 15 meters large.”
He then asked: “But how do you do that when you train people and you build the institution and you ask that combination to make change in the lives of the people? But this is what Emmanuel Dogbevi does. He writes excellently about the results of capacity development.” Applause from the audience.
“He is someone who can say this was the training, and these are the institutional building measures that came with it and this is the change that was effected, overtime.
You can’t just expect capacity building to produce results the next day. But he knows that. He observes our work and he can say after sometime, this is what it has produced, after research on the ground,” he added.
But how do you do that when you train people and you build the institution and you ask that combination to make change in the lives of the people? But this is what Emmanuel Dogbevi does. He writes excellently about the results of capacity development.
He took the opportunity to encourage other journalists to follow in the footsteps of Dogbevi.
“I know there are many of you who can do that, and today that prize is to encourage you to do that. Because capacity building is the only thing that is standing between Africa’s massive results, and our sustainable development. It’s the only thing. The missing link,” he said.
Dogbevi was awarded the African Capacity Building Foundation Award in recognition of his excellent coverage of capacity building in Africa.
Dogbevi’s commitment to remarkable journalism is well-known across the world. He is known for his commitment to seeking and establishing the truth, fact-checking and incredible storytelling skills.
The following are the other award winners: Hope Nabalayo won the Wangarĩ Maathai Young Journalist Award. Zachary Nyakweba was first runner up and Kairu Karega was second runner up.
The African Import-Export Bank Award went to Boason Omofaye.
The winners of the Newsroom Innovation Youth Challenge Awards are: Dixon Yiadom – winner, Nelago Johannes was first runner up and Ayomide Agbaje – second runner up.
The Lifetime Achievement Awards went to the following:
Hassan Alaoui (recived by Moustapha Melouk)
Afif Ben Yedder (received by Omar Ben Yedder)
Chief Olusegun Osoba and Dr. SAM Amuka (received by Adetoun Olayinka Somaiya)
Purity Macharia (received by Renee Makau, RMS Head of Commercial)
Dr. Tami Hultman (Received by Sherrard Burton)
Reed Kramer (Received by Marieme Ba)
Gwen Lister (Received by Zoe Titus)
Patrick Quarcoo and Marie Roger Biloa
By Peter Quarshie
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