By Samuel Onyekwere
The All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA), in its continued drive to build capacity for more knowledge sharing among African music professionals and culture enthusiasts, recently hosted media practitioners, music professionals and policy makers at a stakeholder parley.
The event, which took place at the Azaline and Pullman Hotels, in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, had in attendance music stakeholders from across the continent. Participants also expressed excitement at AFRIMA’s team visit.
The media awareness session tagged; “the drums will beat again” was to kick start AFRIMA’s continental-wide campaign for the unveiling of the 2021 AFRIMA Calendar of activities scheduled for May this year.
The AFRIMA-Côte d’Ivoire stakeholder parley specifically revealed details of the AFRIMA ‘journey so far’. It also looked at other programs for the annual continental awards which will engage music talents and content creators who are the key stakeholders and beneficiaries of the award within the francophone region of the continent.
Present at the conference from the AFRIMA secretariats included the President and Executive Producer, AFRIMA, Mike Dada; Associate Producer and AFRIMA Juror, Olisa Adibua; Associate Producer, Victoria Nkong; AFRIMA Juror (West Africa), David Tayorault; Monsieur Salif “Asalfo” Traoré of the Magic System as well as established artistes and media personalities.
Strategic courtesy visits and stakeholder meetings were held with the Acting Minister, Ministry of Tourism and francophone Relations, Mr. Yves Konan; the country’s media powerhouses- Director General, Radiodiffusion-Télévision ivoirienne (RTI), Mr. Fausseni Dembele; and Marketing Communications Giant, Voodoo Group; Executive Director, Magic System Foundation, Jean-Louis Boua; and President, Association of International Press, Côte d’Ivoire, M’ma Camara.
The Acting Minister, Ministry of Tourism and Francophone Relations, Mr. Yves Konan, said: “We do hope that our partnership with AFRIMA Awards will strengthen the Ivorian and Francophone Music Industry while we look forward to organizing the Annual All Africa Music Awards ceremony in Ivory Coast soon.”
According to the member of AFRIMA Jury representing Côte d’Ivoire, David Tayorault, “AFRIMA is more than just an award ceremony. It also interested in the capacity building of music entrepreneurs, artists and journalists as a tool for the economic growth of the music industry in Africa.
The Abidjan visit is expected to facilitate greater alignment of stakeholders from francophone countries in AFRIMA and we are planning to build a regional secretariat in Côte d’Ivoire which will serve not only the country but the rest of the francophone countries in Africa.”
The stakeholder conference is Abidjan is to continue the annual dialogue through which musicians, businesses, development partners, fans and the government broaden their perspective of music as a developmental tool while reviewing restrictions and adopting best practices in the music business amidst covid-19 pandemic.
In partnership with the African Union Commission (AUC), AFRIMA, is a music and cultural initiative developed to celebrate, reward and showcase the rich musical heritage of Africa, stimulate conversations among Africans and between Africa and the rest of the globe about the great potentials and values of the African culture and artistic legacy for the purpose of creating jobs, reducing poverty, calling attention of world leaders to Africa and promoting the positive image of Africa to the world.