The African Union Commission in partnership with the International Committee of the All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) will on Monday, August 15, 2016, at Protea Hotel, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos announce the city to emerge official host of the 2016 edition of AFRIMA that is scheduled to hold from November 4 to 6.
In January 2016, the African Union identified and nominated Cross Rivers, Akwa-Ibom, Rivers and Lagos to present themselves for the hosting of the continental music award, which is in its third edition in Nigeria.
The AU’s interest in these four cities emanated from the visions of their state governments in promoting tourism and preserving Africa’s rich culture while also inspiring African youths. Security, infrastructure and facilities, availability of appropriate venues among others are key factors of assessment.
According to the African Union Commissioner for Social Affairs, Dr Mustapha Sidi Kaloko, the main purpose of host city partnership is to shore up Africa’s image of a great continent imbued with unequalled tourist attractions and also to showcase economic potential of cities in Africa.
He said, “It is to promote Africa’s strengths to the global audience which in turn adds to the GDP of the state and the continent at large.”
Dignitaries expected at the Host City Announcement Ceremony include top officials of the African Union, nominated state government officials, music professionals; artistes from the continent and the Diaspora; stakeholders in the creative/entertainment industry and journalists from all walks of life.
Meanwhile, the Associate producer of the All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA, Ms Adenrele Niyi, stressed that transparency and fairness, as depicted in AFRIMA’s ethos, will be highly employed in the choice of which state emerges as host city of AFRIMA 2016.
She said, “AFRIMA is an international platform which seeks to celebrate the African cultural heritage and values using this channel to reward established talents as well as emerging music talents of African origin.
“Also, AFRIMA creates sustainable growth of the African music industry as a contributor to national and continental economies. Among AFRIMA’s core values are fairness, integrity and transparency. The AU and the International Committee of AFRIMA will stand by these values in the choice of the host city for the 2016 edition.”
The 2016 edition of the continental award is tagged AFRIMA 3.0.
