African Union Commission and the 13-man Jury of the All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA), have unveiled the Nominees List for the 2017 edition of AFRIMA, the continent’s biggest music awards on Tuesday 8th August, 2017 at Renaissance Hotel, Ikeja in Lagos, Nigeria.
L-R: President/Producer, African Music Award (AFRIMA), Mr. Mike Dada; Juror from South African region, Mr. Chris Syren; Ms. Hadaja Kobele, juror representing Africa-in-Diaspora region, and Mr. Rob Ekukole, juror representing Central Africa Region, during a world media conference, where the 2017 All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA was held at the Renaissance Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria.
The highly anticipated Nominees List for the 2017 AFRIMA Awards which has the biggest acts on the continent was announced in the presence of officials of the African Union Commission, members of the AFRIMA Jury comprising of Charles Tabu (DRC), Robert E. Ekukole (Cameroun), Christian Syren (South Africa), David Tayorault (Cote de voire), Olisa Adibua (Nigeria), Joett Namatta (Tanzania), Tabu Osusa (Kenya), Hadja Kobélé Keita (Guinea) and Omar Es Saidi (Morocco), members of the International Committee of AFRIMA, past AFRIMA winners and nominees, media executives and other stakeholders in the creative and entertainment industries in Africa.
According to Mr. Chris Cyren, the juror from Southern Africa, 4,816 entries from African music professionals and music artistes were received at the close of a two-month entry submission window on July 17 this year. He described the nominations process as rigorous and thorough, as he emphasized on the Jury’s resolve to be fair and transparent in line with the AFRIMA values of FACEIT (fairness, authenticity, creativity, excellence, integrity, transparency).
Charles Tabu, AFRIMA’s juror from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), harped on the need for music lovers in Africa to explore different genre ofmusic from all regions on the continent. Commenting on a question of the criteria of nominees, Mr Bob Ekukole from Cameroon representing Central Africa reiterated that ‘the nominees were picked based on production quality, talent and creativity, melody, originality and authenticity, composition and arrangement. It has to do with the quality of music not onthe number of views from any online video platform, some songs from certain regions have more than half a billion views and would have garnered the awards based on such sentiment but it is not so. It has to do with quality.’ Ms Angela Martins, Head, Culture Division, African Union Commission, AUC, noted that the adjudication process was a comprehensive and superb work of the jurors. She also noted the great improvement of the submissions this year, as it is more impressive than previous years.
“This robust submission this year clearly shows the appreciation and recognition of the music awards.” She noted that the African Union Commission is geared towards investing in the youth by involving them in the African Union’s 2063 Agenda, which intends to make the youth evolve a desire and expertise in the needed developmental facets of Africa in all areas She also reiterated the AU and AFRIMA’s objectives of unity among African artistes and the need for continental integration while celebrating its rich music and heritage.
The Best Female Artistes and Best Male Artistes of the five regions have been released while the nominees in the continental categories will be announced on Friday, August 11, 2017.
Public voting for the nominees in the different categories of the awards will open on August 21, 2017 on www.afrima.org. In partnership with the AUC, A range of rich and exhilarating events for The AFRIMA 2017 such as the Music Village and the AFRIMA Music Business Summit are slated on November 10-12, 2017 and will be broadcast across 84 countries around the world.
L-R: Olisa Adibua, juror representing West Africa Region, from Nigeria, Charles Tabu, representing Central Africa region, from DRC, David Tayorault representing West Africa Region from Cote d’Ivoire, Omar El Saadi, representing Northern Africa, from Morroco, Ms. Angela Martins, Head, Culture Division, representing the African Union Commission, Mr Mike Dada, CEO/Executive Producer, All Africa Music Awards, (AFRIMA), Mr. Chris Syren, juror representing Southern Africa, from South Africa, Ms Hadja Kobele, juror representing Africa-In-Diaspora, and Mr Joett Tony Namata, juror representing East Africa, from Tanzania, at the 2017 All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA was held at the Renaissance Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria.
From Top L-R: Charles Tabu, representing Central Africa region, from DRC, Ms. Angela Martins, Head, Culture Division, representing the African Union, Mr Mike Dada, CEO/Executive Producer, All Africa Music Awards, (AFRIMA), Ms Hadja Kobele, juror representing Africa-In-Diaspora, Mr Joett Tony Namata, juror representing East Africa, from Tanzania.
L-R: Head of Culture, African Union (AU), Angela Martins;President/Executive Producer, All Africa Music Award (AFRIMA), Mike Dada;AFRIMA Juor,Southern Africa Region, Chris Syren (RSA); AFRIMA Juror, America Diaspora, Hadja Kobele Keita, AFRIMA Joror, Central Africa Region, Bob Ekukole (Cameroon), during a world media briefing to announced the 2017 nominees for All Africa Music Awards in Lagos.