The International Committee of All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA, and The
African Union Commission, AUC, have announced the program for the biggest
music event in Africa, the 5th AFRIMA-Ghana 2018 holding in the Gold Coast
City of Accra, Ghana from Wednesday, November 21 to Saturday, November 24
under the theme ‘Africa is Gold’.
Ghana was unveiled as the 5th AFRIMA Official Host Country by the AUC on
September 5 at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Subsequently, the Republic of Ghana accepted the Official Host Country
rights on Tuesday, September 11 during a media event held at the Kempinski
Hotel, Gold Coast City Accra and attended by top Ghanaian government
officials led by the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Ghana,
Honourable Catherine Afeku.
Kicking off the back-to-back exhilarating events program for the 5th
AFRIMA on November 21 is the AFRIMA Welcome Soiree, a reception in honour
of arriving AFRIMA nominees and delegates, African Union officials,
members of the International Committee of AFRIMA, media and other invited
guests.
This is followed by the Africa Music Business Summit (AMBS) on November 22
at the Ballroom, Kempinski Hotel, Gold Coast City, Accra, between 8.30
a.m. and 4.30 p.m. To be held under the theme “African Music in a Global
Village: Leveraging the Opportunities”, the annual AMBS is a panel
discussion platform to interrogate and strategize on the business of music
in Africa while charting a synergistic way forward for development and
economic empowerment for the music talents. It is a platform for business
networking and interaction among music professionals, music executives,
government officials and other stakeholders in the music, media and
financial sectors of Africa while discussing the potentials present in the
continent’s music industry and ways to harness its socio-economic gains.
Later in the day on November 22, at the AFRIMA Music Village, lovers and
fans of African music are in for high octane performances by upcoming and
A-list artistes from across the continent in a festival-style music
concert which holds at the 100,000-capacity Independence Square, Accra,
from 5.00 p.m. till dawn. The event will be broadcast live on dedicated
satellite event channels.
In a bid to showcase the cultural and historical dynamism of the beautiful
host city, invited guests will be treated to a tour of landmarks and
sights of Accra on Friday, November 23. This will be followed by the
Nominee’s Party from 10.00 p.m.
The live broadcast Main Awards Ceremony on Saturday, November 24 will have
in attendance high profile guests from across the continent and the
Diaspora. Scheduled for the Accra International Conference Centre, AICC,
Ghana, by 7.30 p.m., the star-studded awards show will begin with the
live-broadcast red carpet at 4.30 p.m. where all the glam, glitz and high
fashion of the 5th AFRIMA-Ghana 2018 will be on display. The awards
ceremony to be broadcast to 84 countries on 105 partner media channels
will also feature a potpourri of performances from some 2018 AFRIMA
nominees, past award winners, and special guest artistes.
Wrapping up the thrilling event programme is the 5th AFRIMA After-Party at
the Pool Bar, Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast, Accra, Ghana.
Expressing her excitements at the coming events, Hon. Catherine Afeku said
“On behalf of His Excellency, the President of Ghana and the people of the
Republic of Ghana, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Ghana
welcomes African artistes, African media and event delegates to the 5th
All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA-Ghana 2018. We take pride in ourselves in
hosting this continental awards between November 21 and 24 which is
consistent with our national development agenda to the growth of culture
and the creative arts. We project a boost to the tourism economy of Ghana
and the creation of opportunities for artists and investors in the culture
and creative arts industry of Ghana. We expect more of such opportunities
to be created in the national economy as we host AFRIMA events in the
coming years. This will become one of the vehicles to deepen the
collaboration between the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and the
Africa Union to drive the Government’s transformation agenda. We look
forward to welcoming you with the warm Ghanaian hospitality, Akwaaba!”
Also sharing his enthusiasm, AFRIMA Country Director for Ghana, Francis
Doku extolled the virtues of the Host Country saying, “We are very excited
to be the host for the 5th AFRIMA, Ghana is a very beautiful country, and
the most hospitable people on earth, and we want the whole of Africa and
the rest of the world to come to see how we can also help developed the
culture of Africa through music. It is also an opportunity to show the
world what Ghana looks like, who we are, and the fact that we can also
help to bring Africans together just as we did during the colonization of
Africa. He went further to implore the world to come to Ghana, enjoy the
food, the weather and the people from 21st to 24th of November, 2018 when
Africa and the world will meet in Accra for the 5th edition of the All
Africa Music Awards. Welcome to Ghana”. He concludes.
In partnership with the African Union Commission, AFRIMA seeks to reward
Africa’s music talents living on the continent or in the diaspora, it
stimulates conversations among Africans and between Africa and the rest of
the globe about the great potentials and values of the African musical and
artistic heritage for the purpose of creating jobs, reducing poverty,
calling the attention of world leaders to Africa and promoting the
positive image of Africa to the world for global competitiveness.