Slaughter and May announces Africa Essay Prize winner

Slaughter and May is delighted to announce the winners of its 2018/19 Africa Essay Prize. The annual competition was launched in 2016, and offers students the opportunity to display their ability to write concisely and persuasively about topics relating to African commerce and law. This year’s competition asked students to answer one of the following questions: Do African countries benefit from the International Criminal Court? or Is it legitimate for the UK to tie development spending to its international interest? The firm was impressed by the high standard of entries this year, particularly due to the 1,000 word limit which made forming and arguing an opinion all the more challenging.

The winner, who will receive £2,000 in prize money and a work placement at the firm, is Abhishek Parajuli. Abhishek, who answered ‘Is it legitimate for the UK to tie development spending to its national interest?’, explored the relationship between government and electorate and attitudes to aid and taxes, creating an intelligent argument as to why the need of the development spending and the want of national interest are to be seen as intertwined values rather than paradoxical adversaries.

The second and third prizes were awarded to Kweku Asiedu and David Zuther, who will be awarded prizes of £1,000 and £500 respectively. The following individuals were highly commended: Abe Chauhan, Charles Channer, Evangeline Oliver, Hari Badale, Maame Serwaah, Monika Kaczmarska, Oluwatomilade Ososami, Qahir Bandali, Timothy Foot.

We would like to thank all those who entered, the standard was incredibly high and entrants impressed by covering a range of different topics and issues.