The top five finalists of the prestigious African Investigative Journalist of the Year Award 2026 have been selected.
This year saw a record number of 204 entries received from across the continent, with the outstanding caliber of investigative reporting on display giving the judges a difficult time in settling on the top finalists.
The 2026 judging panel features a distinguished lineup of seasoned African investigative journalists, including AIJC convener Beauregard Tromp (South Africa), press freedom advocate Gwen Lister (Namibia), Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maggie Michael (Egypt), media pioneer and editor-at-large of Zitamar News Fernando Lima (Mozambique), and veteran investigative journalist and trainer Hamadou Tidiane Sy (Senegal).
Run by the Wits Centre for Journalism and supported by Absa Africa, the award, now in its fourth year, recognises outstanding investigative reporting from across Africa that reveal untold stories, hold the powerful to account, question those in public life and serve the public interest.
The annual gala award ceremony will be held on 11 November in Nairobi, Kenya during the 2026 African Investigative Journalism Conference. The top three finalists will be invited to attend the conference.
Our top five finalists in no particular order are:
Lead In Their Blood / Poor Oversight, Regulatory Failure Expose Nigerians to Slow Death from Battery Recycling
Folashade Ogunrinde and Oladehinde Olawoyin (Premium Times, with The Examination, Nigeria)
The reporting duo commissioned independent blood-lead testing on 70 residents, plus soil and air quality sampling near battery recycling plants in Ogun State, to provide objective scientific evidence in their exposé rather than relying on testimony alone. The story’s impact was seen in triggered plant closures, free blood-lead testing for residents, and a House of Representatives investigation.
Nine Lives: King Cat and His Tender Empire
Jeff Wicks (News24, South Africa)
Nearly 30 stories produced over 18 months tracing a tenderpreneur’s capture of a R360 million police tender and his ties to sitting and former police ministers. The investigation resulted in tender cancellations (saving at least R310m), an SIU referral, and the arrest and prosecution of the National Police Commissioner, feeding directly into the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.
Your Eyes, Their Data
Naipanoi Lepapa, in collaboration with Svenska Dagbladet and Göteborgs-Posten, Kenya
A cross-border investigation exposing how sensitive footage from Meta’s AI-powered Ray-Ban smart glasses, including intimate and financial recordings, was routed to Nairobi-based data annotators for labelling with inadequate anonymisation, consent, or worker protection. The exposé triggered regulatory scrutiny in Kenya, the UK, and Ireland, multiple US class-action lawsuits, and led Meta to pause the annotation project and end its contract with the outsourcing firm.
The Corruption That Allows Liberia’s Human Traffickers to Stay Free to Exploit the Poorest Citizens
Anthony Stephens (New Narratives / FrontPage Africa, Liberia)
This investigation exposed an alleged US$7,000 bribe offered to derail prosecution in what became Liberia’s largest human trafficking case. Sustained coverage from initial exposure through trial, ultimately reported on the unanimous conviction of all remaining defendants.
The Great Capture Train
Graeme Hosken (amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism, South Africa)
Two years were spent developing sources to obtain documentary proof that an alleged organised crime boss captured contracts on a billion-rand presidential rail reconstruction project with the help of a captured state rail security chief. Publication led to the security chief’s dismissal and additional fraud, corruption, and racketeering charges.