Nominations are now open for the 2014 Social Media Awards Africa (SMAA). This initiative, a brainchild of Development Diaries, a Pan-African media-for-development (Media4D), was unveiled recently in Lagos, Nigeria
The SMAA is a premier continental initiative to recognize and celebrate excellence, creativity and impact of social media on human socio-economic development – through its tools and platforms – by individuals and organizations across the continent. The SMAA features 4 categories and 15 awards targeted at personalities, platforms, institutions and indigenous initiatives that have demonstrated sheer creativity, excellence and impact in digital and social media practice in Africa.
Nominations by individuals and organisations can be made at www.smaafrica.com/nominate between September 30 and October 27, 2014.
After the nomination phase, the virtual council will screen all entries to establish reach and online influence of the nominees, after which official nominee list of 10 nominees per category (150 nominees) will be released for Public Voting and re-verification. Further judging by a Jury will see only 5 entries and then, 3 final entries competing for the coveted titles.
Winners will be announced and awarded at the ‘Night of Virtual Wonders’ holding on December 6, 2014. Award prizes include: $1,000 USD, professional and institutional trainings on social media, access to mentorship opportunities among other benefits for excellence and impact in social media practice.
Speaking during the unveiling ceremony, Project Lead of the Social Media Awards Africa, Femi Aderibigbe explained that with over 700 million mobile phones active and over 200 million internet users – with more than 110 million on Facebook – Africa’s twitter timeline in restless motion – development may be hinged on its ability to explore the technological revolution of the 21st Century.
The Social Media Africa Initiative is supervised by an Advisory Board of respected individuals such as: Toby Daniels, CEO, CrowdCentric & Founder, Social Media Week; Tunji Lardner, Executive Director, West African NGO Network (WANGONeT), Ini Onuk, Lead Consultant/CEO, ThistlePraxis Consulting; Abdul Tejan-Cole, Executive Director, Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) among others.
Leading the judging process is a Jury which consist of: Ken Banks, Founder, Kiwanja.net; Francis Ebuehi, Vice President, Value Added Services, Airtel Nigeria; Obi Asika, Chief Executive Officer, Dragon Africa; Ryan Silberman, CEO, Popimedia South Africa; Dele Fatunla, Communications Coordinator, Royal Arts Society, London; Muyiwa Moyela, External Relations Lead, IBM West Africa; Hetal Shah, Chief Operating Officer, Mara Group of Companies and many more.
The Social Media Awards Africa is sponsored by Sterling Bank, Africa Media Initiative, AIESEC and WANGONeT.
For more information about the Social Media Awards Africa (SMAA), follow @sma_africa on twitter and find SMAAfrica on all major social media platforms.
To nominate now, click ‘NOMINATE’
