The winners of the Africa 2016 Photo Competition have been announced and awarded. The competition was organised by Agility, a global logistics provider. This year’s competition drew more than 2,500 photographs from professional and amateur photographers in 30 countries.
Each winner of the three contested categories was awarded a cash prize of $2,000. Winners of the 2016 edition of the contest emerged from Kenya, Zimbabwe and Rwanda. They are Stephen Simiyu, a photographer from Nairobi, Kenya (Technology); Henry Oliver Hakulandaba, an environmental consultant and photographer from Harare (Cities); and Esdore Hakizimana, a machine operator from Kigali, Rwanda (Industry). Simiyu also won the Grand Prize of $2,000 for his photograph of a fisherman using a laptop in a canoe on Lake Victoria, Uganda.
Reacting to the award, the winners emphasised that the historic change and development on the continent were the motivation behind their photos. “I know Africa is developing, and to show this, I needed an image that could tell that story in one picture. The competition really made me think about Africa – there’s nowhere like it,” Simiyu, the Grand Prize winner, said.
Hakulandaba, winner in the Cities category, said non-Africans are continually surprised by the pace of change in Africa. “Whenever I exhibit images of Harare or any other African city, there is always someone who says they never thought Africa has such development,” he said. “This competition is a platform to reach a wider audience about African development. It will help change perspectives of the continent’s potential.”
The competition was judged by an independent panel. On the panel were: Sneha Shah, Managing Director, Thomson Reuters Africa; Bronwyn Nielsen, Editor-in-Chief, CNBC Africa; and Salim Amin, Chairman of CameraPix and co-founder of Africa24 Media.
The winning photographs and the runners-ups were featured at a session at the just concluded 71st United Nations General Assembly in New York. According to the organisers, the winning photographs will be shown at the Thomson Reuters Africa Summit 2016 in Cape Town in October, and they will also be showcased in Forbes Africa, on CNBC Africa, and in Agility’s corporate magazine, Tradelanes.
The CEO of Agility Africa, Geoffrey White said, “the winning images speak eloquently about the historic change underway in Africa and the opportunities for Africans, African businesses and the world.” He also said his company is aimed at investing in the logistics infrastructure of the continent, and the company is “proud to show the world powerful images that capture a more positive view of Africa and demonstrate the progress that has already been made, hopefully changing the perceptions of Africa in 2016.”
