Kenya’s Niaje.com has been named the best blog in Africa beating over 520 entries from 27 African countries to win the first annual African Blogger Awards.
Niaje emerged top in the best African Blog category beating 32 others. Last year, Niaje was named as the best Kenyan blog in the Kenya Bloggers Awards.
In Kenya, Niaje and Ghafla Kenya compete voracioulsy for the top spot among the youth to be the go-to site for entertainment and lifestyle news and are nearly edgeing Capital Lifestyle which has become more political and old school.
According to Murray Legg, co-founder of the African Blogger Awards, “The competition received entries from all corners of the continent including Nigeria, Kenya, Benin, Mali, Morocco, Togo, Cameroon, Malawi and Eritrea, to name a few, with the diversity of nationalities being a clear indication that social media influencers across Africa have welcomed the opportunity to be measured quantitatively against their peers.”
Apart from Niaje other winners include the best Instagrammer in Africa, Gareth Pon and Nigeria’s TechLoy as the best business blog among others. Winners in each category receive a commemorative trophy and a web banner announcing their achievement that can be personally-leveraged through their social network.
Though not so well popularised, entrants to the awards were required to register via Webfluential, a platform designed to impartially quantify their reach, resonance and relevance and measured the blogs reach, resonance and relevance as influencer channels.
“The calibre of entries into the Awards reveals how social media marketing is growing in influence across the continent,” says Mike Sharman, co-founder of the African Blogger Awards. “The entrants’ combined audiences total over 5.6 million blog visitors, 10.2 million Twitter followers, 2.5 million Instagram followers, with YouTube channels offering a combined 75 million views.”
The second annual African Blogger Awards will be held in February 2015.
See the full list of winners below.
| Category (Nr entries) | Name | URL |
| Best Instagrammer (Africa) (7) | Gareth Pon | @garethpon |
| Best African Blog (33) | Niaje – Kenya’s Best Entertainment & Lifestyle News | http://niaje.com |
| Advice (31) | The Techie Guy | http://thetechieguy.com |
| Arts and Culture (32) | 10 and 5 | http://10and5.com |
| Brand Blog (14) | Brandslut | http://www.brandslut.co.za |
| Business (16) | Techloy | http://techloy.com |
| Digital Marketing (14) | Gotta Quirk | http://quirk.biz |
| Education (47) | Campus Portal Nigeria | http://campusportalng.com/ |
| Entertainment (67) | Just Curious | http://justcurious.co.za |
| Events and Nightlife (8) | Nairobi Now :: arts, culture and events | http://nairobinow.wordpress.com/ |
| Fashion and Beauty (38) | Curvy Chronicles | http://capitalfm.co.ke/lifestyle |
| Finance (5) | FNB Blog | https://blog.fnb.co.za/ |
| Hobbies (5) | Fortress of Solitude | http://www.fortressofsolitude.co.za |
| Lifestyle (61) | We Are Awesome | http://www.we-are-awesome.com |
| Music (19) | Ghanaian music videos and music news | http://www.ghanamusic.com |
| Niche Market (13) | Actors.co.ke | http://www.actors.co.ke |
| Other (specify) (50) | Africa Business Magazine | http://www.africabusiness.com/ |
| Parenting (9) | Rattle and Mum | http://www.rattleandmum.co.za |
| Personal (59) | Xtian Dela | http://www.xtiandela.com |
| Photography (16) | The Pretty Blog | http://www.theprettyblog.com/ |
| Specific to Your Country (Africa) (28) | BongoSwaggz | http://bongoswaggz.com |
| Sports (10) | The Bounce | http://www.thebounce.co.za |
| Technology and Gadgets (50) | Lazy Gamer | http://www.lazygamer.net |
| Travel (24) | Getaway Magazine | http://www.getaway.co.za |
| Youth Culture (17) | The Travel Manuel | http://thetravelmanuel.com/ |
| Best Twitter Personality (Africa) (26) | NO WINNER | |
| Best YouTuber (Africa) (5) | NO WINNER | |
| Automotive (9) | NO WINNER | |
| DIY Blog (7) | NO WINNER | |
| Entrepreneur (14) | NO WINNER | |
| Expat (African) (5) | NO WINNER | |
| Health and Beauty (13) | NO WINNER | |
| Marketing and Media (25) | NO WINNER | |
| Political (36) | NO WINNER | |
| Religious (11) | NO WINNER | |
| Food and Drink (13) | NO WINNER |
Photos by Niaje.