Diageo today announced the finalists for the 2013 Diageo Africa Business Reporting Awards.

The winners of the ten categories will be announced during the Awards ceremony, which will take place in London in July.

The Awards, which this year celebrate their ten-year anniversary, recognise the fact that excellent business journalism plays a crucial role in promoting Africa as a destination for investment. The Awards also underline Diageo’s belief that better and more accurate reporting helps to create a fair and responsible environment in which to do business.

Over 1,000 entries were received from across Africa and the rest of the world, representing the very best reporting from print, broadcast and new media. A panel of eminent judges will now select the winners of each category. The winners will be announced at a gala ceremony, which will be held in London on Wednesday 17th July 2013.

The finalists are (in no particular order):

BEST INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) FEATURE

Business of Gaming with Maliyo, Keisha Gitari (CNBC Africa, Nigeria) Africa’s healthcare technology revolution, Fiona Graham (BBC, UK) Barry Bateman and Oscar Pistorius: inside the Twitter explosionLauren Granger (Memeburn, South Africa)

BEST FINANCE FEATURE

Ivory Coast’s Women Reject Equality in Household Law Debate, Pauline Bax (Bloomberg, Ghana) ATM Fraud Henry Githaiga (Citizen TV Business, Kenya) Private Equity in Africa, Ola Omoyele (ACM Insight, Nigeria)

BEST INFRASTRUCTURE FEATURE

Mozambique coal, gas: boom for all or just a few? Agnieszka Flak (Reuters, UK) South Sudan's Chinese oil puzzle, Alexander Dziadosz (Reuters, USA) Africa’s Infrastructure Boom: Will this time be different? Adam Green (This is Africa, UK)

BEST AGRIBUSINESS / ENVIRONMENT FEATURE

2015 Cocoa Revolution: Myth or Reality, Oyesina Fadare (National Mirror, Nigeria) Of Men, Okapi and Rebels, Jon Rosen (Roads & Kingdoms, USA) The E-Waste Menace in Ghana, Thomas Naadi Bitegma (ETV Ghana, Ghana)

BEST TOURISM FEATURE

Revisiting Tinapa, Anthony Akaeze (Broad Street Journal, Nigeria) Durban’s Dunes, Errol Barnett, Correspondent; Aja Harris, Producer; Peter Rudden, Photographer; Samantha Bresnahan, Associate Producer; Brian Streicher, Editor (CNN Inside Africa, South Africa) Malawi: Beautiful Destination with limping tourism, Frazer Potani (Africanews.com, Malawi)

BEST BUSINESS NEWS STORY

Guinea reignites $2.5bn mining tussle, Tom Burgis (The Financial Times, UK) 175 vehicle-tracking firms operating without licence Adedayo Oketola (The Punch, Nigeria) Growing art auction business fetches N232m in 2012, Funke Osae-Brown (Business Day, Nigeria)

BEST BUSINESS FEATURE

A Hopeful Continent Oliver August (The Economist, UK) The Chinese loan conundrum: Who is benefitting from Zambia’s phantom growth in construction? Kingsley Kaswende (Zambian Watchdog, Zambia) Africa Calling William Wallis (The Financial Times, UK)

BEST NEWCOMER

Sherelle Jacobs (African Business, UK) Laban Onserio (CNBC Africa, Kenya) Veneranda Sumila (The Citizen, Tanzania)

MEDIA OF THE YEAR

African Banker (UK) African Business (UK) The Africa Report (France)

JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR

Matthew Davies (BBC World Service, UK) Peter Guest (Aeon Magazine, Forbes Africa, UK) Katrina Manson (The Financial Times, UK)

The winners will be decided by a prestigious international judging panel, which brings together experts from the field of media and business, as well as pan-African initiatives and organisations. Further details of the 2013 judges will be announced shortly.

Commenting on this year's awards, Nick Blazquez, President, Diageo Africa, Turkey, Russia & Eastern Europe, said, “This year’s Awards have once again demonstrated the increasing strength and depth of reporting on African business matters. Our finalists come from across Africa, as well as from Europe and the United States, showing the enormous appetite around the world for insightful and thought-provoking news on Africa’s business and investment climate.

“At Diageo we remain convinced that an accurate and balanced view of the risks and opportunities of doing business across Africa is essential to inform investment decisions. Journalism plays a fundamental role in that process and I am once again highly impressed by the quality of the entries that we have received. Our finalists for this, our ten year anniversary, are among the best in their field and we look forward to celebrating their achievements at the ceremony in July,” continued Blazquez.