Over 9,076 entries have been received for possible nominations at this year’s edition of All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA), the International Committee announces.
According to the committee, this is the highest number of entries received by the awards body, since its inception in 2014. The figure, which was garnered from entertainers across all five African regions, as well as Europe and North America, represented a 2.2 percentage increase from the 8,880 entries recorded in the 2021 edition.
“This development is a clear indicator that AFRIMA is the pinnacle of African music globally, and Africans value the importance of celebrating themselves, as culture remains one of our strongest tools for global unification, as well as economic growth,” AFRIMA Juror representing the diaspora, North America, Hadja Kobele, commented.
Eastern African region led the trail with 2,890 entries, representing 31.8 percent; while West African region followed closely with 2,863 entries, representing 31.5 percent; and Southern African region joined in the race with 1,659 entries, representing 18.2 percent; while Central Africa comes fourth with 941 entries, representing 10.3 percent; complementing the 373 entries from Northern African entertainers who represented 3.8 percent, while the remaining 349 entries from the diaspora represented 4.1 percent of all total submissions.
In line with the AFRIMA 2022 calendar, a 13-member jury, composed of seasoned experts across all five regions in the African music industry, as well as the diaspora, arrived Lagos, Nigeria, on Thursday August 11, for an 8-day adjudication process that would select the nominees across all existing categories.
A world media announcement of the nominees will take place on Monday August 22, 2022 to publicly unveil the nominees. A week after, on Monday August 29, 2022, the AFRIMA Voters Academy, as well as music fans and followers around the globe will begin to participate in the public voting process, which will be held on the AFRIMA website www.afrima.org. Nominees with the highest votes would emerge winners in their respective categories.
The AFRIMA awards ceremony will feature a 4-day fiesta of music, glitz, and glamour. The event is scheduled to commence with the welcome soiree, followed by the AFRIMA Music Village, the host city tour, African Music Business Summit, and the exclusive nominees’ party and concluded with the live awards ceremony broadcast to over 84 countries around the world.