Nigerian artist, Davido and South African musicians Mafikizolo and Uhuru received the highest number of nominations at the All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) according to a list released on Wednesday in Lagos.
Thirty of the 32 award categories will be opened for voting by the public and AFRIMA Academy of Voters.
However, the AFRIMA Legend Award and the Africa Entertainment/Music Journalist Award will be decided by the International Committee of AFRIMA and announced at the main awards ceremony on Sunday, Nov. 9. Mike Dada, the Executive Producer of the awards said that the AFRIMA voting online platform will open on Tuesday, Sept. 30 for the five-week voting process.
AFRIMA opened entries on May 15 and closed the submission of entries on July 21 and received 2,025 works for assessment. The AFRIMA Jury, made up of seasoned African industry practitioners, were in Lagos, between July 31 to Aug. 6 for a week-long adjudication of entries from artistes, songwriters, video directors, producers as well as journalists.
The jury members included Oscar Kidjo (Benin Republic), Kawesa Richard (Uganda), Tabu Osusa (Kenya), Laolu Akintobi (Nigeria), Robert Esong Ekukole (Cameroon) and Kiki Toure (Equatorial Guinea). Others were Delani Makhalima (Zimababwe), Chris Syren (South Africa), Angela Martins African Union Commission; Rab Bakari (USA) and Rita Ray (UK), Diaspora. AFRIMA is partnering with the African Union Commission for this edition of the awards, which will hold on Nov. 9, to be preceded by the AFRIMA Music Village between Nov. 4 and 7. NAN reports that there will also be an African Music Summit, Nov. 6 to Nov. 7, themed “Reviving the Business of Music in Africa”. (NAN)