The awards ceremony will now be held from 12-15 January 2023, in Dakar, Senegal; shifting the previous date up by four weeks as jointly announced by The International Committee of Afrima, The African union commission and The Republic of Senegal.
This also means that the voting deadline for the nominees will now be shifted to 13 January 2023. This will be the first time the main awards ceremony will be held in a francophone country after past editions.
In his acceptance speech, Senegal’s Minister of Tourism and Air Transport, Mr. Alioune Sarr, represented by Phillipe Ba, said, “Personally and on behalf of the Senegalese government, welcome to Sénégal, the home of the champions of football. Now Sénégal is also positioning herself to become the champions of music because we are hosting the eighth Afrima. We are happy knowing that Sénégal becomes the third country and the first Francophone country to host this great event.”
“I can tell you that our ministry (Tourism) and the Senegalese government will partner and collaborate with [Afrima] for a great success of Afrima in Senegal because our President, H.E. Macky Sall is not only the president of the African Union but also wishes to position himself as the President of all African lovers of culture which Afrima exudes,” he concluded.
“The eighth Afrima in Senegal is officially tagged the Teranga edition which encompasses the good hospitality, warmth, generosity and sharing that is the core to Senegalese life. In addition to celebrating Africa in a magical way and promoting the values of Senegalese people globally through the Afrima platform, the youths, who are the central focus of the 8th edition will be exposed to opportunities in the creative economy and new music business models, monetisation in music, intellectual property rights and licensing as well as collaborations with other global African music superstars that will be participating in eighth Afrima in Dakar,’’ explained Afrima’s president and executive producer, Mike Dada.
As the whole world gears towards Afrima, African music lovers are encouraged to keep voting intensively for their desired winners, using the voting portal and take part in the events on social media platforms.
The event is scheduled to commence on 12 January with a courtesy visit to the President of the host country, while a host city tour, school visit and gift presentation (as part of AFRIMA’s CSR), as well as a welcome soiree, will be held on the same day.
The four-day event continues 13 January 2023 with the African Music Business Summit and the Afrima Urban Music Fest; the main rehearsals and nominees exclusive party will be held on 14 January. The event will climax on 15 January, with the live awards ceremony broadcast by 104 TV stations to over 84 countries around the world.
