All Africa Music Awards seeks new venue

According to the organisers, Nigeria won the right to host the event for its first three editions, with Lagos selected for the first two award ceremonies. To that end, perhaps, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a former governor of the state and a well-respected politician, was given an honorary award for his contribution to culture.

For this year’s event, the awards committees along with the African Union Commission (AUC) have put up four likely venues. Vying against Lagos are the southern Nigerian cities of Calabar, Port Harcourt, and Uyo.

According to the Commissioner for Social Affairs at the AUC, Mustapha Sidiki, “The main purpose of the host city partnership is to showcase the tourism and economic potential of one of the great cities in Africa and promote its strengths to global audience which in turn adds to the GDP of the state and the continent at large.”

Requesting that the respective cities campaign for hosting rights, Sidiki added that, “Ultimately, there is an opportunity to tap into the millions of participants and followers of the booming African music.”

Matlou Tsotetsi, AFRIMA Director of Sponsorship/Communication, said that the city eventually selected will “create value and deep brand equity not only for Nigerians but Africans.

“It must have the most motivation to host AFRIMA in line with its values; have the strongest vision in tourism, culture and entertainment; have the most adequate facilities, surrounding infrastructure, security and tourist attraction to host the event and should have hosted successful events in the past that attracted both national and or global audiences.”

The period of entries for the awards closed on 30 July. Nominees will be announced on 22 August.

In previous news, AFRIMA lauded the decision of the African Union to provide a single passport for all Africans. At last year's ceremony, Cameroon's Charlotte Dipanda and Tanzania's Diamond Platnumz were the big winners.