The event which was hosted in Lagos, Nigeria, recognized and rewarded excellence, creativity and impact of social media on human Socio-Economic development, through its tools and various available platforms by individuals and organizations as such across the continent.
There was also a second part which preceded the awards ceremony which obviously was the highlight of the evening, hosted Africa’s best in diverse sectors to discuss, analyze and forge a new development path for Africa through social media.
The awards considered specific social Platforms like; Facebook Page of the Year, Twitter Handle of the Year, Influencer of the Year (Considering LinkedIn, YouTube, Google+ and Instagram.
For the case of individual achievement in social
media, the selection boards looked at Blogger of the Year, Social Media
Personality of the Year, Social Media Hero. Not forgetting local campaigns and
brands, it was obvious Hashtags of the Year couldn’t be taken out. Others earmarked
for recognition were Brand of the Year, App of the Year and Best Rated Platform
of the Year.
Before I share with you on the various nominees and
winners of the various categories, here is a quote from the organizers;
“With 4 major categories and 15 awards, the SMAA is
a genuine, timely intervention for promoting distinctive creativity, peerless
innovation and pervasive developments on the African continent through the best
use of social media platforms and the rest of the social web”.
Now WHO WON WHAT?
HASHTAG OF THE YEAR
#TheNiteTalk Kenya -
#letsnotpretend Ghana
#choice4life Nigeria
WINNER: #TheNiteTalk (@Lt_Caesa)
Financial Institution
Stanbic IBTC Nigeria
KCB Group Kenya
Access Bank Nigeria
WINNER: @KCBGroup
Brand of the Year
Raha 2.0 Tanzania
Jumia-Nigeria Nigeria
Vodafone Ghana Ghana
WINNER: @rahaFIBER
Best Rated Platform
All 4 Women South Africa
Nigeria Trade Hub Nigeria
Bizcommunity.com South Africa
WINNER: @Nigeriatradehub
App of the Year
ICOW Kenya
Afrinolly Nigeria
MPesa Kenya
WINNER: @Afrinolly
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| AFRINOLLY - APP OF THE YEAR |
The awards also recognized best use of social media institutionally and here are they:
Private Sector
Informer East Africa Tanzania
DHL Africa Kenya
Popi Media South Africa
WINNER: @DHLAfrica
Non-Profit
Stand to End Rape Nigeria
WINNER: @StandtoEndRape
Government/Public Sector
Republic of Rwanda Ministry of Youth and ICT Rwanda
Kenya National Youth Service Kenya
Ekiti State Government Nigeria
WINNER: @myictrwanda
Start-up/MSME
Adforumco Nigeria
AIM Group Tanzania
TVyangu Kenya
WINNER: @adforumco
Influencer of the Year (LinkedIn, YouTube, Google+, Instagram), which had the following gunning for the award,
The Love Tour KE Kenya
Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo Nigeria
X-tian Dela Kenya
Had @slumphotography picking up the plaque as winner in that category.
Then came Twitter Handle of the Year
@jimitewe – Jimi Tewe Nigeria
@XtianDela – X-tian Dela Kenya
@omojuwa – Japhet Omojuwa Nigeria
WINNER
@jimitewe
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| TWITTER HANDLE OF THE YEAR - @JIMITEWE |
I was actually rooting for Omojuwa to win based on
the impact that handle had made over the year but let’s not take it away from
Jimi Tewe, some wonderful things came out of that handle. Check out his ThankYou message to the world after being declared winner.
Facebook Page of the Year was won by Barefootlaw from Uganda (@BarefootlawUG ) and if you want to know who its competitors were, find them below
All4 Women South Africa
Barefootlaw Uganda
Comedy Central Africa South Africa
Call them the flagship awards of the night, the following won the top awards of the evening .
Social Media Hero
Japheth Omojuwa Nigeria
Michael Hlatshwayo South Africa
Xtian Dela Kenya
WINNER: @big_MIKE_ayooba
Social Media Personality of the Year
Ayari Yassine Tunisia
Japheth Omojuwa Nigeria
Luyando Haangala Zambia
WINNER: @yassayari
Blogger of the Year
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| BLOGGER OF THE YEAR |
Ogunsaya Jide Nigeria
Ben Kiruthi Kenya
WINNER: @Benkiruthi
Congratulations to all
the winners and the other nominees, wishing you all better luck in the next
awards session. Hope you don’t stop being an impact on society and Africa as a
whole with all the good things you do with all your social media platforms. Africa
no doubt is the future.
You can also find me on
most of the various social media platforms;
Follow @Qwophicedi
