The African Union Commission (AU) has declared that despite the multiple setbacks brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) is yet committed to the unity of Africa through entertainment and culture.
This came to light at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia recently even as the calendar of events for this year’s edition of the awards was unveiled. It featured a line-up of events that would take place between June 20 and November 21, 2021.
Speaking on behalf of the African Union, the Director of Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Cisse Mariama Mohamed, noted that the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in multiple setbacks for Africa, but AFRIMA is committed to uniting the continent through entertainment and honouring the tradition of celebrating the musical culture of Africa.
According to Mohamed, the submission of entries marks the first official timeline of the AFRIMA calendar and opens globally on www.afrima.org to African music professionals either living on the continent or in the diaspora from Monday, June 28, by 12pm and closes on Friday, August 20, 2021. “The songs and videos must be produced or released under the year in review from June 1, 2020 to August 20, 2021. African music artistes, managers, producers, record label owners, recording companies, video directors, disc jockeys, choreographers/dancers, and international acts are eligible to submit their works or submit on behalf of their clients via the official AFRIMA website: www.afrima.org for a possible nomination in one or more of the 40 categories,” she said.
Other activities on the calendar include pre-screening process where submitted entries will go through screening by the Screening Committee of AFRIMA. The screening process would be done within the period of August 21 to 28, after which the International Jury of AFRIMA comprising a 13-man panel of African music experts will carry out adjudication from August 29 to September 6.
On completion, a world media announcement of AFRIMA 2021 nominees’ list will take place on September 7 to unveil the artistes and works by Africans in Africa and the Diaspora that have been nominated. On September 8, the AFRIMA Academy as well as African music fans and followers around the globe will begin to participate in the AFRIMA Public Voting process to be conducted on www.afrima.org during which the nominees will receive votes that could lead them to emerging winners in the various categories of the awards.
The voting process, which closes 24 hours before the main awards ceremony, would be monitored and audited by a reputable international auditing firm. Finally, the main awards ceremony will hold from November 18 to November 20, 2021.