Nigeria: 2020 Future Awards Africa to go virtual in November

The event is courtesy of Africa Magic, MTV Base, Popcentral TV and Cool FM Nigeria, and will air across various TV and digital platforms. It will commence with the Beating Corona Heroes Telethon in honour of COVID-19 frontline workers, followed by the Diversity Summit on 28 November.

The summit will feature discussions ranging from diversity, inclusion and equality. The proceedings will culminate with the main awards ceremony on the final day, which will be co-hosted by Nigerian broadcaster and actress Toke Makinwa.

Now in its 15th edition, the awards are presented by social enterprise communications outfit The Future Project (TFP), which is an affiliate of content, consulting and data firm Red for Africa. They seek to celebrate young people between the ages of 18 and 31, who are dictating trends and creating new possibilities, among other things, as well as those who have made outstanding achievements in the year under consideration.

The awards also recognise personalities across the creative and visual arts, activism, entrepreneurship, fashion, film, governance, health and wellness, among many other categories. Musicians who have previously won a trophy include Burna Boy and Simi.

“There has been so much confusion this year that there have been times when one would not have been seen to be exaggerating if they said they see no hope for stability or a light at the end of the tunnel,” Red for Africa CEO Bukonla Adebakin, who doubles as senior advisor of TFP, said. “Yet one thing has remained consistent, and that is the power that the youth unleashed in 2020.”

Co-producer of the festival Ayobola Eniola said the awards would highlight “a generation coming into its own power, through diversity, inclusion, and accountability culture.”

About 25 per cent of the proceedings from this year’s awards will be donated to not-for-profit organisations, including Stand To End Rape, The Mirabel Centre, Wine and Whine Ng and Women at Risk International Foundation, all of whom are involved in initiatives against sexual and gender-based violence. 

Nominations are still open and can be made here. Find more information about the awards here.