University of Ghana is proud of Emmanuel Dogbevi’s accomplishments

A multiple award-winning Ghanaian journalist, Emmanuel K Dogbevi has been honoured by the University of Ghana among notable alumni making significant strides in various fields of endeavour.

The recognition is part of activities to mark the university’s 75^th anniversary celebration.

A letter signed by the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Nana Aba Amfo said: “Congratulations on the significant contribution made to the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) report on Africa-China relations. We are excited about how far you have come and would want you to know that the entire University community is proud of your accomplishments.”

Dogbevi, who graduated from the University in 2007 is the managing editor for Ghana Business News and will be among the 75 alumni who will be showcased by the University’s Office of Institutional Advancement in partnership with the Public Affairs Directorate during the anniversary celebration. The university currently has more than 400,000 alumni around the world.

He recently contributed to the US-based National Bureau of Asian Research’s (NBR) special report on China’s presence in Africa focusing specifically on China in Ghana’s media.

Dogbevi, who believes that journalism should be done as an intellectual exercise beyond merely reporting, has a  body of works spanning various aspects of the country’s development and is highly recognized for his extensive reporting on e-waste dumping in Ghana which led to legislation, beneficial ownership, illicit financial flows, tax havens, illegal logging, biofuels, and intra-Africa trade. His investigative reporting on the illegal logging and export of rosewood from the three regions of the north in Ghana, led to a ban on export of rosewood from West African countries including Ghana, by the CITES.

Over the years, in his 32 years career as a journalist, Dogbevi has continued to cover difficult issues and subjects in a country where it is becoming harder to do critical reporting, particularly investigative reporting that exposes debilitating corruption, abuse of power and holds the powerful to account. Additionally, he’s had to continue to do this important kind of journalism with little and in most cases no resources – such as funds, and the human support base that these kinds of works require, and over the years his impactful works have led to legislation, international bans and discussions in universities around the world.

The news website he founded, Ghana Business News, on which he has been working for the past 14 years, with no funding, and human resources, except occasional support from volunteer friends, he has continued to selflessly run, largely driven by his deep commitment to the high standards of journalism, love for country and the greater public interest, deepened by his many years of experience and training.

In 2014, he founded the journalism and communication skills training not-for-profit organisation, NewsBridge Africa. Since March 2016 they have trained more than 400 persons in Ghana, Liberia, Senegal and The Gambia. They include journalists, executives and communication officers of CSOs, citizen journalists and Members of Parliament of The Gambia.

NewsBridge Africa worked with organisations like the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI), the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), ACIPP West Africa, the World Bank, the International Republican Institute (IRI), EITI, Open Ownership and Code for Africa on some of the training programmes.

“I was pleasantly surprised when I received the email with the letter from the Office of the Vice Chancellor.

I had to double-check the URL, follow up with a phone call to verify the authenticity. I must say, the University of Ghana was the last place I expected any form of recognition to come from, considering the fact that in my 32 years of practice, I have barely received recognition from even organisations working in the areas that I cover,” he said.

“This recognition is both enthralling and humbling at the same time. To be considered as one of the 75 alumni out of more than 400,000 to be honoured by the university is a big deal,” he added.

Mr. Dogbevi holds a Bachelor of Art degree in Sociology from the University of Ghana and a Master of Science degree in Journalism from Columbia University in the City of New York, where he is also a Knight-Bagehot Fellow in Business and Economic Journalism.

By Jonas Nyabor
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