Diageo Africa Business Reporting Awards 2011 - Winners Announced

Johannesburg, Friday, 1 July 2011 - Diageo, the world's leading premium drinks company, has announced the winners of the 2011 Diageo Africa Business Reporting Awards at a ceremony in London last night. Now in its eighth year, the Awards are a celebration of journalists and news organisations that have excelled in quality business journalism and have presented fair and balanced stories about the continent's risks and opportunities. This year a record 1223 nominations were received, demonstrating the increased resonance of these Awards.

Winners from the eleven categories came from all over the world. Nicholas Norbrook, Managing Editor of The Africa Report, was named as Journalist of the Year and the Best Newcomer title was awarded to Kenyan Cynthia Nyamai, of the Kenyan broadcaster KTN. The award for Media of the Year went to Reuters. A full list of winners can be found below and at www.diageoafricabusinessreportingawards.com.

Paul Walsh, Chief Executive , Diageo plc and chair of the judging panel said,

"Africa is increasingly a focus of attention for the rest of the world as its social and economic development accelerates. Through doing good business, Diageo generates broad-based wealth for communities across Africa. We are proud of that contribution, and encourage others to do likewise, including through our support for these awards which celebrate the best of business journalism in and about Africa."

The Keynote address was delivered by Baroness Northover [of the Department for International Development], who commented: "DFID will invest to tackle trade barriers and to improve the business climate across Africa, but it is private sector investment that will unlock Africa's economic potential and deliver a better future for the continent. The awards this evening are to celebrate the important role that business reporting has in inspiring companies and investors to take up the challenge."

Eric Chinje, Director of the Global Media Program at the World Bank Institute, also addressed the attendees, representing business, government and media from the UK, Africa and internationally, saying: "Action on this agenda will equip citizens in an otherwise information-starved society to participate knowledgeably in the building of a private sector-driven economy and reposition media as a conscious partner in the process."

Presenting the Awards, Nick Blazquez, President, Diageo Africa, added, "As the financial crisis has taken hold of the global economy, so there is a surge of interest in Africa, with increased attention, focus, and investment from all corners of the world". He warned, however, that political conflicts, rising food prices, and recent developments in North Africa had shaken some observers confidence, saying: "This creates a greater responsibility to give a fair and balanced view of Africa, and provides more reason to support, recognise and celebrate quality business journalism of a continent on which the world has turned its spotlight."

The 2011 winners of the Diageo Africa Business Reporting Awards are:

Best ICT Feature: J.M. Ledgard, Intelligent Life, Digital Africa

Best Finance Feature: Nick Wachira, Emmanuel Were and Cosmas Butunyi,

The East African, "Why CEOs need to come clean on their pay"

Best Infrastructure Feature: Ed Cropley and Agnieszka Flak, Reuters,"South African mining"

Best Agribusiness Feature: Charlotte Ashton, BBC Radio Four,"Is there a Revolution in African Farming?"

Best Tourism Feature: Wycliffe Muga, The Star, "Kenya tour resorts miss out on niche global ecosphere sustainability awards"

Best Use of New Media in a Story: Rob Walker and team, BBC World Service,"Oil city Takoradi"

Best Business News Story: Anthony Osae-Brown, Business Day,"Spending Spree at Presidency"

Best Business Feature Story: David Lewis, Reuters, "In Africa, Brazil takes a different track"

Best Newcomer: Cynthia Musenya Nyamai, KTN

Media of the Year: Reuters

Journalist of the Year: Nicholas Norbrook, The Africa Report

Winners received a bronze statue titled "News" by the sculptor Loni Kreuder and a cheque for ?500.

For more information, visit www.diageoafricabusinessreportingawards.

About Diageo:

Diageo is the world's leading premium drinks business with an outstanding collection of beverage alcohol brands across spirits, beer and wine.

These brands include Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, J?B, Windsor, Buchanan's and Bushmills whiskies, Smirnoff, Croc and Ketel One vodkas, Baileys, Captain Morgan, Jose Cuervo, Tanqueray and Guinness.

Diageo is a global company, trading in more than 180 countries around the world.

The company is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (DGE). For more information about Diageo, its people, brands, and performance, visit us at Diageo.com.

For our global resource that promotes responsible drinking through the sharing of best practice tools, information and initiatives, visit DRINKiQ.com.

Celebrating life, every day, everywhere.

Diageo Africa

Diageo Africa is primarily a beer and spirits company whose brands are sold in more than 40 countries in Africa.

Diageo has a long established presence in Africa with the first recorded exports of Guinness to Sierra Leone in 1827. Guinness is a truly pan-regional premium beer brand brewed in over 20 countries throughout the continent and is exported to many others.

Diageo's businesses also produce and sell a range of local beer brands including Tusker, Senator Keg, Serengeti Premium Lager, Harp and Bell. Diageo is also the leading premium spirits company in Africa, and its great brands include Johnnie Walker Scotch Whisky, Smirnoff vodka, Baileys and Gilbeys gin.

Diageo Africa employs over 5,000 people accounting for over 20% of Diageo's workforce worldwide. In some key markets it has built its own in-market businesses with distribution access to trade channels, some of which have listings on local stock exchanges.

In other markets, it will look to partner with a local business, through licensing brands or through third party distribution.

All of these companies have active community investment programmes, covering initiatives in water, farming and rural value chains, health, education and other areas of value to the communities in which they operate across Africa.