The second annual African Blogger Awards were announced on the 5^th of May 2015, setting social media ablaze. The competition doubled the amount of entries from last year with over 1,000 entries this year from across the continent.

Entries were open in five main categories including Best African Blog, Best African YouTube Channel, Best African Instagrammer, Best African Twitter profile and Best African Facebook page, as well as across 36 sub-categories.

Winners were chosen in four of the five main categories:

• The best blog about Africa is The African Hip Hop Blog  from Zimbabwe
• The best Instagrammer in Africa is Gareth Pon from South Africa
• The best Twitter personality in Africa is Xtiandela from Kenya
• The best YouTube channel in Africa is Theodora Lee from South Africa

The 36 sub-categories included sectors such as Advice, Fashion and Beauty, Events and Nightlife, Education, Sports, Political, Technology and Gadgets, and Youth Culture among others.

Category winners include:

• Advice: Kenya Weddings followed by The Techie Guy from South Africa
• Arts and Culture: 10and5 (South Africa) followed by Another Africa from Eritrea
• Brand Blog: Ellerman House (South Africa) followed by Bona (South Africa)
• Business: TechFinancials (South Africa) followed by Mark Lives (South Africa)
• DIY blog: The Pretty Blog (South Africa) followed by Make Money Online (Nigeria)
• Entertainment: YoMzanzi (South Africa) followed by Book of Swag (South Africa)
• Events and Nightlife: Just Curious (South Africa) followed by DK Expressions (South Africa)
• Expat Living in Africa: Journal of a City Girl (Namibia)
• Fashion and Beauty: Superficial Girls (South Africa) followed by Inspired Living (South Africa)
• Food and Drink: Pika Chakula (Kenya), followed by Hein Stirred (South Africa)
• Health and Beauty: Healthable (Nigeria) followed by Not Another Poppie (South Africa)
• Hobbies: Lazy Gamer (South Africa) followed by Vamers (South Africa)
• Lifestyle: Lovilee (South Africa) followed by Inspired Living (South Africa)
• Marketing and Media: Techloy (Nigeria) followed by GottaQuirk (South Africa)
• Music: Running Wolf Rant (South Africa) followed by Texx and the City (South Africa)
• Parenting: The Blessed Barrenness (South Africa) followed by Rattle and Mum (South Africa)
• Personal: Dad and the Code (South Africa) followed by Lucky Pony (South Africa)
• Photography: Mooi Troues (South Africa), followed by Fire fly Africa (South Africa)
• Political: Josephat Lukaza (Tanzania) followed by Synapses (South Africa)
• Specific to Your Country: Kenya Weddings followed by Don’t Party (South Africa)
• Sports: The Pundits (South Africa) followed by The Bounce (South Africa)
• Technology and Gadgets: PixelVulture (South Africa) followed by TechLoy (Nigeria)
• Travel: The Travel Manuel (South Africa) followed by Duff’s Suitcase (South Africa)
• Youth Culture: Don’t Party (South Africa) followed by Book of Swag (South Africa)

“The extensive growth in the number of entries we received this year shows that the African social influencer and blogging scenes are not as far behind the rest of the world as many people think,” says Murray Legg, co-founder of the African Blogger Awards.The enthusiasm shown on Twitter bears testament to the opinions championed above by Murray Legg. The live-tweeting of winners is an interesting take on awards that demonstrated how appreciative the communities of the winners and runner-ups to consume content of a platform they are already using. The diver

The enthusiasm shown on Twitter bears testament to the opinions championed above by Murray Legg. The live-tweeting of winners is an interesting take on awards that demonstrated how appreciative the communities of the winners and runner-ups to consume content of a platform they are already using. The diversity of nationalities being a clear indication that social media influencers across Africa have welcomed the opportunity to be measured quantitatively against their peers. The African Blogger Awards are the first true, impartial measure of the reach, resonance and relevance of an influencer channel.

“Even though blogs created and built in Africa may be slowed down by irregular connectivity, it’s clear that content is being spread across social networks like wildfire, as people across the continent use social media to connect and share their stories.”

It is always amazing to see the power of social media, especially in telling a good news story about Africa, take center stage in the digital age. No one can dispute that the continent is taking charge of its own narrative and the African Blogger Awards is another tool to share and tell authentic African stories, for Africans by Africans. It is important to also note that the awards are based on impartial scientific metrics, rather than through peer nominations.

Each winner will receive a web banner for boasting rights on their blog, a trophy that will be couriered and possible additional sponsored prizes.

“The second African Blogger Awards was a great success, building on last year’s achievements. We’d like to congratulate all the deserving winners and wish them all the best for their continued success,” Legg says.The next African Blogger Awards will be held in February 2016.

All winners and participants can be engaged for blogger campaigns via Webfluential. The 2014 winners can be found here.