Reuters names three biz reporters for Africa

Reuters regional editor for Europe, the Middle East and Africa Simon Robinson and Africa bureau chief Ed Cropley sent out the following announcement on Monday:

We’re delighted to announce three new appointments as part of our ongoing efforts to bolster our business and companies reporting in sub-Saharan Africa:

Abidjan-based correspondent Joe Bavier will be moving to Johannesburg shortly to take up the new post of Africa Business Correspondent. Joe, a member of the Monsanto reporting team that won Reuters’ 2017 Companies Coverage of the Year, will be bringing his 12 years of experience in central and west Africa to one of the most interesting corporate beats in the world. We’re asking Joe to help break lots of news and to make sense of the corporate and investment trends that are shaping the future of the continent and its one billion (and growing) people. Born in Tanzania but raised in Tennessee, Joe joined Reuters in Kinshasa in 2005. Since then, he has reported from 17 African countries on everything from penis theft in Congo to torture of cocoa farmers by forestry agents in Ivory Coast.

London-based senior energy correspondent Libby George will be moving to Lagos as Oil and Companies Correspondent, Nigeria. Prior to joining the energy desk, Wisconsin-born Libby was deputy editor at Argus Media, an independent energy intelligence publication, covering European and African fuels and petrochemicals markets. Before that she lived and worked in Washington for three years covering the U.S. Congress for Congressional Quarterly. Libby already knows Nigeria and is looking forward to digging into its vibrant energy story – and more.

Omar Mohammed has just started in Nairobi as East Africa Companies Correspondent. Scotland-educated Omar joined Reuters from his native Tanzania, where he worked as a stringer for Bloomberg. From 2016 to 2108, he was the Knight International Journalism Fellow with the International Center for Journalists. He previously worked in New York for Quartz. Omar will boost our existing corporate coverage in one of Africa’s most rapidly changing regions.

Please join us in wishing Joe, Libby and Omar all the best in their new positions.

Ed and Simon