Nominees unveiled for 2017 AFRIMA Awards

The 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, and members of the AFRIMA jury, which comprised 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) , as well as 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 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 emphasised on the Jury’s resolve to be fair, and transparent in line with the AFRIMA values of FACEIT (fairness, authenticity, creativity, excellence, integrity, transparency).
The need for music lovers in Africa

Charles Tabu, AFRIMA’s juror from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), harped on the need for music lovers in Africa to explore different genres of music from all regions on the continent. Commenting on a question of the criteria of nominees, 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 on the 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.’

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,’’ said Martins.

Youth investment and unity

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 artists and the need for continental integration while celebrating its rich music and heritage.

To view the 2017 nominees go to afrima.org. Public voting for the nominees in the different categories of the awards will open on 21 August 2017 on AFRIMA.

Events for the 2017 AFRIMA will include the Music Village and the AFRIMA Music Business Summit which will take place between 10 and 12 November 2017, and will be broadcast across 84 countries around the world.