The African Union Commission (AUC) and the International Committee of All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) have announced that they received a record 8,880 entries for the AFRIMA 2021 Awards. This was at the close of submission of entries on August 20, 2021 in spite of the negative impact of COVID-19 on culture and creative industry.
Now in its 8th year, AFRIMA Awards recognize African music globally and honours African artistes, music producers, songwriters, video directors, DJs, Choreographers/dancers, and movie/film producers living in Africa or in the diaspora. The Awards also recognize International acts.
This year’s entries were received from 50 African countries across the five regions of Africa and 10 countries from Europe and North America. Such include Spain, United Kingdom (UK), United States of America (USA), France, Portugal, among others.
Commenting on this year’s Award entries, Angela Martins, Head of Culture at AUC said, “The increased interest in the awards is a clear indication that AFRIMA, a platform of bringing Africans together through the instrumentality of music and culture, is growing immensely across Africa and globally, which is a very important goal for us. Also, it is a signal that artists and actors in the music industry are becoming resilient in the face of global challenges.”
Entries for Awards opened on 1st June, 2021 and closed on 20th August, 2021.
This year, the International Jury of AFRIMA announced additional 3 new categories including Best Soundtrack in a movie/series/documentary film, Best Global Act, and Breakout Artiste of the Year (Renaming Most Promising Artist).
A 13-man International Jury of AFRIMA will now begin a week-long adjudication process in Lagos, Nigeria, beginning 29th August. The AFRIMA Jury is responsible for screening, categorizing, assessing, grading, and selecting the nominees into the 40 different regional and continental awarding categories.
After the adjudication process is concluded, the 2021 Nominees’ List will be unveiled in a World Media Conference in the second week of September, 2021. Public voting will follow immediately.
The awards ceremony will take place in November 2021.