Kenyan social innovator Wawira Njiru, founder of Food4Education, has won the Leadership Award at the 2026 Diane von Furstenberg (DVF) Awards ceremony in Venice, Italy, according to BellaNaija. The DVF Awards were established in 2010 by designer Diane von Furstenberg and the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation to recognise, support and amplify the voices of extraordinary women dedicated to improving lives around the world.

The shortlist for the 2026 Caine Prize for African Writing has been announced, recognising outstanding short stories published by African writers over the past year. The prize, first awarded in 2000 to Sudanese author Leila Aboulela, is regarded as one of the most prestigious honours in African literature and has so far been presented to 25 writers from across the continent, according to BellaNaija.

AXIAN Group and the African Development Bank have launched a digital finance programme aimed at supporting more than 34,000 women-led businesses across five African countries. According to TechTrends KE, the initiative is backed by the bank's Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) programme and seeks to address persistent financing and digital inclusion gaps affecting women entrepreneurs on the continent.

The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) has announced a call for entries for the African Investigative Journalist of the Year Award (AIJY) 2026, featuring a prize pool of $7,000. This initiative aims to recognize and reward outstanding investigative journalism across the continent.

At the UNDP's pan-African edtech accelerator, Data Entry Academy from Nigeria won the top prize among twenty finalists. The competition saw ten startups recognized for their innovations, with startups from Egypt and Senegal securing the second and third places, respectively.

Femi Otedola's memoir, 'Making It Big', has been awarded the title of African Business Book of the Year, a recognition that comes less than a year after its official launch in London, according to Premium Times.