East Africa leads entries for AFRIMA 2017

The All Africa Music Awards, (AFRIMA) received a record 4,816 entries from African music artists and professionals for the 2017 edition of the awards at the close of the two-month entry submission process on Monday. East Africa dominated the entries.

Mr Rikki Stein, AFRIMA International Advisor and a member of the International Committee, said this in a statement in Lagos on Thursday. He said  the African Union and the International Committee of AFRIMA opened the 2017 AFRIMA call for entries on May 8.

Stein further said screening and adjudication processes of the entries would hold from July 18 to July 28 and Aug. 2 to Aug. 8. 2017.

He said the 13-man AFRIMA Jury would review the entries to determine the works of African talents that were adjudged on merit to be on the AFRIMA 2017 Nominees list.

The 2017 awards, the 4^th edition is scheduled to hold from the 9 – 12  in Lagos Nigeria, the host of the 2016 edition.

Stein said it was a period of opportunity for African music artists, record producers, songwriters, video directors and music journalists to enter their qualified works on the AFRIMA website.

Stein gave the website as www.afrima.org and the awards social media platforms.

He said the response was overwhelming, adding that the 4,916 entries  received were higher by 77.25 per cent than the 2,714 received in 2016.

“Analysis reveals Eastern Africa regions recorded the highest entries with 47 per cent of the total entries, followed by Western Africa with 30 per cent of the entries.

“This progress is a positive marker and it has elicited satisfaction from the African Union, the International Committee of AFRIMA as well as the Regional and Country Directors of AFRIMA.

“This is tremendous news, indicative of an increasingly healthy music industry across Africa, particularly from a creative perspective.

“AFRIMA is plugged into the aspirations of the African continent, providing a platform for excellence in music, a source of inspiration and encouragement for its associated fields of endeavour,’’ the advisor said.

According to him, African artists are making marks globally, acting as good ambassadors of their countries and their culture and turning the world toward Africa as the source of entertainment.