II Premio Saliou Traoré de periodismo en español sobre África

The Saliou Traoré Prize for Spanish language journalism covering Africa was set up as a posthumous tribute to the veteran correspondent of the EFE Agency. The main objective is to recognise the work of professional journalists who report on Africa in Spanish and to stimulate the publication of writing on African topics in Spanish.

The aim is to alleviate the fact that Africa is dominated by negative information, which contributes to reinforcing the stereotype of African countries as problematic regions in constant conflict.

Therefore, this award will value writing which takes positions moving us away from this stereotype.

The award has been endowed with 5,000 euros and is open to journalists who have published works in Spanish on Africa or African themes.

The competition is structured as a single category for the written field, open to all formats: opinion, information, chronicle, investigation, report, series of reports, special dossiers. Entries can have been published in print or digital media. All entries for the award must have been published between 1 January and 31 December 2019.

Saliou Traoré was a Senegalese journalist who worked for 37 years for the Efe Agency. He had the courage to demand that journalism be freely exercised in Gambia, after it had been muzzled for 23 years by the dictatorship of Yahya Jammeh. His great capacity for self-criticism led him to question issues such as whether the Senegalese government’s fight against corruption under Macky Sall was justice or a witch-hunt. Honesty was another of Traoré’s characteristics, for example rather than ignoring the problem of child begging imposed by some Koranic schools, he spoke out about it. And his feminist side led him to defend women’s freedom to decide whether or not to resign themselves to polygamy.

From his home in Dakar’s Hlm Grand Yoff neighbourhood, where the Efe Agency was located at the back of the courtyard, Traoré gave lessons in journalism and life without intending to. He spoke for some of those groups in his country that do not have a voice, such as homosexuals and activists against child marriage or female genital mutilation. But he also took time to tell the positive stories about Africa, the stories that this award is aiming to encourage.

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This award is organised jointly by the EFE Agency and Casa África