AFRIMA: Ghana loses hosting rights
The international committee of the All Africa Music Awards, (AFRIMA) has withdrawn the hosting rights from Ghana for the 2019 and 2020 editions of the awards. According to a release by Sola Dada, Head of Media at AFRIMA, the decision was made on Monday, “over lack of capacity by the host country to meet the […]
Wiyaala was the 2015 AFRIMA winner
The international committee of the All Africa Music Awards, (AFRIMA) has withdrawn the hosting rights from Ghana for the 2019 and 2020 editions of the awards.
According to a release by Sola Dada, Head of Media at AFRIMA, the decision was made on Monday, “over lack of capacity by the host country to meet the financial and contractual obligations entered to on July 12, 2018, necessary to retain hosting the biggest music event in Africa.”
Ghana’s hosting rights for the 5th AFRIMA was announced by the African Union in Ethiopia, last September.
The release quotes AFRIMA’s International Advisor, Rikki Stein, who said, “It was a hard decision for us to withdraw the awards hosting rights for the next two years (2019 and 2020 editions) from the Republic of Ghana. As an awards owned for the African people, it is structured to travel around the continent giving the people the true African experience.
“We look forward to returning to Ghana at a more opportune time. However, we cannot afford to compromise the standard of the laudable vision of AFRIMA to create a truly African brand that connects Africans and build the equity of Africa.”
Stein said host countries must show commitment to secure suitable venues in advance for holding the awards ceremony and events. They must as well provide suitable hotel accommodation in advance for nominees, artistes and guests to provide and process visas-on-arrival in advance and in good time for guests, nominees, artistes, contractors and other relevant stakeholders attending the ceremony. “If these are not in place, then we have a recipe for disaster on our hands,” he said.
The committee said in the release that it will announce a new host for the 6th edition of the award, this month.