African Web entrepreneur wins 2007 Excellence in New Communications Award

Chido Makunike, an online writer and Web entrepreneur from Zimbabwe working in Senegal, has been awarded the 2007 Excellence in New Communications Award by the Society for New Communications Research (SNCR.)

Makunike won the award for innovative use of Information Communications Technology (ICT) and the World Wide Web. He is the creator and administrator of two online publications, the African Agriculture Blog and the Trade Africa Blog. Each features regularly updated news, perspectives and analysis aggregated from across Africa on agricultural and trade issues respectively.

The Society for New Communications Research is a nonprofit global think tank dedicated to the study of new media and emerging trends in communications. It is based in Palo Alto, California. The SNCR Awards of Excellence in New Communications recognize innovative individuals, corporations and media outlets that are pioneering the use of ICT, mobile media, online communities, virtual worlds and collaborative technologies.

In a statement, the SNCR said Makunike was one of “five outstanding individuals” whose work will be honoured on December 5^th at the 2nd Annual "Excellence in New Communications Awards" Gala at the Colonnade Hotel in Boston, Mass. Other award winners are Francois Gossieaux and Hylton Joliffe of MarketHum and sister company Corante; corporate blogging pioneer Mike Dillon, general counsel and executive vice president of Sun Microsystems Inc.; educator and new media researcher Dr. Craig E. Carroll of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina.

Responding to news of the award, Makunike said, “I am greatly honoured to receive this recognition for my work from the SNCR. I thank those who nominated me for the award, and the SNCR for selecting me. A constant rock of love and support has been my family in Zimbabwe. I will also always be grateful for the wonderful hospitality of my host country Senegal, and the support of countless new colleagues and friends here to make the work that has resulted in this award possible.”

Makunike continued, “Africa is often thought to have been left behind by the digital technology revolution. But this award shows that from within Africa, it is possible to harness the tremendous new opportunities it presents to produce targeted media products equal in quality to any in the rest of the world. The agriculture and trade websites have been created not just as sources of information on African agriculture and trade issues, but more importantly, to facilitate business within the continent, as well as between Africa and the rest of the world. I believe the SNCR Excellence in New Communications Award will significantly give a boost to these efforts. I also hope that it will give encouragement to many others in Africa to use the power of the Web as a far-reaching, cost-effective business and developmental tool.”