AFRIMA to Focus on Opportunities for Africa Music

By Vanessa Obioha

The various opportunities available to African musicians in a digital era will be the core discussion at the upcoming All Africa Music Awards, (AFRIMA) Business Summit.

Music stakeholders, professionals, executives, government officials and other stakeholders in the music, media and financial sectors of Africa will be present at the annual summit to discuss the potentials present in the continent’s music industry and ways to harness its socio-economic gains.

This year’s summit will hold in Accra, Ghana, the host city of the fifth edition of AFRIMA, on November 22. The annual AFRIMA Business Summit is a panel discussion platform to interrogate and strategise on the business of music in Africa while charting a synergistic way forward for development and economic empowerment for the music talents.

It is a platform for business networking and interaction among key players in the industry.
The business summit is also part of the line-up activities for AFRIMA, which kicks off on November 21. It will be preceded by a reception in honour of arriving AFRIMA nominees and delegates, African Union officials, members of the International Committee of AFRIMA, media and other invited guests.

AFRIMA Music Village will host thousands of African music lovers and fans to a high octane performances by upcoming and A-list artistes from across the continent in a festival-style music concert on the evening of November 22 at the Independence Square, Accra. The event will be broadcast live on dedicated satellite event channels.

In a bid to showcase the cultural and historical dynamism of the beautiful host city, invited guests will be treated to a tour of landmarks and sights of Accra on Friday, November 23. This will be followed by the Nominee’s Party later ast night.

The live broadcast of the main awards on Saturday, November 24 will have in attendance high profile guests from across the continent and the Diaspora. Scheduled for the Accra International Conference Centre, AICC, Ghana, the star-studded awards show will begin with the live-broadcast red carpet where all the glam, glitz and high fashion will be on display.

The awards ceremony to be broadcast to 84 countries on 105 partner media channels will also feature a potpourri of performances from some 2018 AFRIMA nominees, past award winners, and special guest artistes.

Expressing her excitement at the coming events, the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Ghana, Catherine Afeku said: “On behalf of His Excellency, the President of Ghana and the people of the Republic of Ghana, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Ghana welcomes African artistes, African media and event delegates to the 5th All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA-Ghana 2018.

“We take pride in ourselves in hosting this continental awards between November 21 and 24 which is consistent with our national development agenda to the growth of culture and the creative arts. We project a boost to the tourism economy of Ghana and the creation of opportunities for artists and investors in the culture and creative arts industry of Ghana. We expect more of such opportunities to be created in the national economy as we host AFRIMA events in the coming years.

“This will become one of the vehicles to deepen the collaboration between the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and the Africa Union to drive the government’s transformation agenda. We look forward to welcoming you with the warm Ghanaian hospitality, Akwaaba!”

In partnership with the African Union Commission, AFRIMA seeks to rewardAfrica’s music talents living on the continent or in the diaspora. It stimulates conversations among Africans and between Africa and the rest of the globe about the great potentials and values of the African musical and artistic heritage for the purpose of creating jobs, reducing poverty, calling the attention of world leaders to Africa and promoting the positive image of Africa to the world for global competitiveness.