Nigeria to host AFRIMA

Nigeria has won the hosting right for Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA).

The decision was announced on Saturday, October 5, 2013, by the international committee of AFRIMA whose members were drawn from different parts of Africa.

Speaking to journalists at a press conference held on Sunday, October 6, at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel, Lagos, AFRIMA’s Brand Communication and Sponsorship Director, South Africa’s Matlou Tsotetsi, said Nigeria was selected to host the much-expected pan-African music award among four other countries – Gabon, South Africa, Namibia and Kenya.

Tsotetsi also noted that one of the factors that won Nigeria the hosting right was the growth of the country’s music industry coupled with its booming entertainment and event hosting infrastructure.

“We took a lot of factors into consideration before Nigeria was eventually considered and nominated, just like we did last year in Namibia before we arrived at the last five countries.”

With the nomination, it was disclosed that Nigeria would host the music awards aimed at rewarding African music talents for the next three consecutive years, while countries bidding to host after Nigeria would be announced in 2015. The organisers noted that the award ceremony that will be preceded by a two-day pan-African music summit is expected to be held on Saturday, October 25, 2014. There will be 27 categories of awards that will be decided by a rich college of judges and fan sms/online voting.

According to the organisers, AFRIMA, which is designed to be the ultimate recognition of African music talent globally, has five regional directors and 54 country directors across Africa to streamline activities. As part of the build-up to the award ceremony, a road show tagged ‘On the way to the AFRIMA’s’ will be held in three major cities of the world, New York, London and Paris, and four cities in four of the key regions in Africa.

The unique selling propositions of the awards, as told by the Regional Director, Eastern Africa and co-producer of the award, Mike Strano, is that for the first time in the history of hosting music awards in Africa, songwriters will also be recognised among several other industry professionals.

AFRIMA, which has been designed to work with the African Union (AU), it was revealed, will embrace statesmen, cultural icons, members of the diplomatic community and business leaders across the world.

Executive producer of AFRIMA, Mike Dada, noted: “AFRIMA will provide opportunities to showcase our strength as Africans for global competitiveness and project our musical and cultural values. Our mission is to project our heritage and bright future through the art of music.”

AFRIMA is expected to unite Africans with a live broadcast to 84 countries on 109 television stations across the world in the English and French languages.