Grantee Wins Sanlam Financial Journalism Award

Pulitzer Center grantee Ronald Adamolekun has won a Sanlam Financial Journalism award. He was awarded best African Growth Story of 2022 for his solutions-focused reporting in Nigeria, including the Center-supported story “Facing High Wheat Prices, Nigerian Bakers Turn to Potato Puree.”

In the category of African Growth Story of 2022,

the winner is Ronald Adamolekun, @RonaldAdamolek2 from Premium @PremiumTimesng 🙌#SanlamAwards

— Sanlam Financial Journalism Awards (@SanlamAwards) August 3, 2023

“I ask all the financial journalists to keep up the great work,” said Chief Executive of Sanlam Group Paul Hanratty. “It's really your effort that helps us deliver what we need to in the economic space.”

Adamolekun is a chief business correspondent for the Nigerian online newspaper Premium Times. His award-winning story explains the emergence of orange-fleshed potato as an alternative to wheat for baking bread. 

In recent years, the cost of importing wheat to Nigeria has made bread unaffordable for middle-class and poor families. The orange-fleshed potato is cheaper, and also contains Vitamin A that could revolutionize childhood nutrition. Moreover, Nigeria is the world’s third largest potato producer, so potatoes are a more economically self-sufficient option. Adamolekun calls the potato bread “a culinary breakthrough that could radically redefine how bread is produced and priced in a country with the highest cost of bread in Africa.” 

Combining perspectives of bakers, farm owners, industrial research, and food companies with economic, agricultural, and nutritional data, Adamolekun gives an extensive overview of this possible solution for Nigerian food security.

Adamolekun’s story “Among Underserved Nigerians, Awareness of Health Insurance Remains Poor but Insurtech Offers Hope” was also recognized in the Awards.

He has previously won second place in the Finance & Capital Markets Reporting category at the 2022 PwC Media Excellence Awards and was the first runner-up in the online category of the 2023 Pan-African (Re)Insurance Journalism Awards, according to Premium Times. This is the second year in a row winning the African Growth Story award for Premium Times.

The 2022 Sanlam Financial Journalism Awards were held in Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 3, 2023. The Awards have recognized the best business journalism in Africa since 1974.