MUMBAI: A Rwandan student has won the BBC's talent competition for best radio report in French. Nicolas Gatambi has been awarded the Grand Prix – a laptop computer - in a radio journalism competition with BBC Afrique, the BBC's French for Africa service.

More than a hundred budding radio journalists participated in the competition, which invited them to produce a radio package on a subject of their choice. Competitors explored themes such as sexual harassment in universities, the plight of bereaved women, religion and other issues.

Gatambi's package was about a man who lost both legs in a mine explosion, and his efforts to regain dignity and a family. He said, "It's a dream come true. I am now a small celebrity in my town and amongst my fellow students." BBC Afrique senior producer Michel Proust said, "We were impressed by the high quality and the originality of subjects chosen by the participants. The jury members said that they were struck by the sincerity and audacity of some of the reports. The winning entries were quite outstanding, and we were proud to broadcast these reports as part of the BBC Afrique output."

The second prize went to Ghislaine Nentobo from Mbandaka, Democratic Republic of Congo, for her report on an original form of transport in her town, the "Nzela-Moto". The third prize went to Cecilia Lima de Pina, a student from Luxembourg, for a report on a family of immigrants from Cape Verde. BBC Afrique is part of BBC World Service and is available on radio and online on bbcfrench.com. BBC World Service broadcasts programmes around the world in 43 languages and claims to have a global audience of 149 million listeners.