All Africa Music Awards open in May

The first of these events is a conference to be hosted by the African Union and AFRIMA in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The timeline for submission of material for consideration by the awards body will be made public at the conference, which will be attended by members of the International Committee of AFRIMA, past AFRIMA winners and nominees from southern African, South African government officials and media executives as well as music industry stakeholders.

"The impact of AFRIMA as an awards which places premium value on the talents and their creative works keeps reverberating across the continent,” the director of brand communication for AFRIMA, Matlou Tsotetsi, said. “This informs the carefulness and details that goes into planning our events in a way which puts the artist and the cultural heritage of our continent first,” she said.

Speaking about last year’s event that was hosted by Nigeria, Tsotetsi said: “2016 was a phenomenal year for AFRIMA. The awards ceremony, hosted by the Lagos State of Nigeria between November 4 and 6, was a cultural fiesta with nominees and invited guests turning up in their thousands. About 40 well-known African artists performed at the AFRIMA Music Village to a live audience of more than 25 000 and thousands more watching live from different locations in Africa.

"I’m very excited to say my home country is reaching out to AFRIMA purely on the merit of AFRIMA’S values and to be part of this unique awards platform that unites Africans through the joyous celebration of excellence in music."

The first three editions of the AFRIMA ceremony were hosted by Lagos, with Tanzanian star Diamond Platnumz dominating the last two editions with three awards on each night.