By Abdi Ali
Published October 2, 2016
Didi Akinyelure, the Nigerian television business reporter and presenter who on July 25, 2016 won the second annual BBC World News Komla Dumor Award, has joined the BBC News team on a three-month placement.
RELATED:Nigerian Wins BBC World News Komla Dumor Award
The internship, that began on September 20, 2016, is expected to provide Akinyelure with the opportunity to gain skills and experience by attending a course with the BBC Academy, and working with teams across BBC News on TV, radio and online, reaching the BBC’s estimated audiences of 348 million across the world each week.
Akinyelure will also have the opportunity to travel to a country in Africa, with a top BBC producer, to report on a story for a global audience.
RELATED:Winner of Inaugural BBC World News Komla Dumor Award Announced
The BBC World News Komla Dumor Award was set up in honour of Ghanaian presenter Komla Dumor who passed away in January 2014 and aims to continue Komla’s legacy by celebrating African journalism and finding exceptional talent.
Didi Akinyelure, a business journalist and presenter, received the award from BBC’s Fran Unsworth at London’s BBC Radio Theatre on the night of September 20, 2016.
Akinyelure beat Kenyan Capital Radio’s Olive Burrows and NTV’s Trevor Ombija to the coveted prize whose all-female judges were Anna Williams (Editor BBC World News); Josephine Hazeley, (Deputy Editor for BBC Africa); and Ory Okolloh (director of investments for Omidyar Network’s Governance & Citizen Engagement Initiative in Africa).
RELATED:BBC Seeks Future Stars of African Journalism
Uganda’s Nancy Kacungira, who won the inaugural award in 2015 while working for Kenya’s KTN television station, now works for BBC after her three-month placement with the global broadcaster in the British capital.
Kacungira, who appeared to be delighted by Akinyelure’s win, said, “The past year has been an incredible journey for me: from being told I’d won the award to training with BBC Academy; from learning from some of the world’s best journalists to working for the BBC. I’m sure Didi will find the experience exceptionally rewarding, and I hope we can both continue Komla’s great work.”
