With a whooping 9,076 entries for nominations, the All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) organisers have announced they received the most entries since the award event started in 2014.
The entries sent in by entertainers were from all the five regions of the African continent, while Europe and North America had a 2.2 percent increase from the 8,880 total entries recorded in the year 2021.
In a statement, Hadja Kobele, AFRIMA juror representing the diaspora, North America said, “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.”
The southern African region submitted 1,659 entries, representing 18.2 percent; while Central Africa came 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,” the statement by AFRIMA’s international committee, in partnership with the African Union Commission (AUC) reads.
“In line with the AFRIMA 2022 calendar, a 13-member jury is expected to arrive Lagos, Nigeria, on Thursday August 11, for an 8-day adjudication process that would select the nominees across all existing categories.
“The jury is composed of seasoned experts across all five regions in the African music industry, as well as the diaspora, specifically North America and Europe.”
The nominees will be announced on August 22, while “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 voting process, which closes 24 hours before the awards ceremony, would be monitored and audited by a reputable international auditing firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
“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.”
The 2022 All Africa Music Awards entry submissions began on May 30 and ended on August 5.