African Union Commission and the 13-man Jury of the All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA, have unveiled nominees in the regional categories for the 2017 awards. Ghana’s nominations so far comes from Sarkodie and Becca in the Best Male and Best Female West African Artiste respectively.

AFRIMA 2017 NOMINEES LIST
REGIONAL CATEGORY
Best Female Artiste in Central Africa
Artiste	Track	Country
Bussine	All Africa Party	Gabon
Daphne	Calee	Cameroon
Ewube	Fall 4 you	Cameroon,
Merveille	Toi	Cameroon
Mimie	Dance fi you	Cameroon
Montess	Love witta Gun Man	Cameroon
Nsoki	Africa Unitde ft Dj Maphorisa & Paulo Alves	Angola
Reniss	Mamamuh	Cameroon
Best Male Artiste in Central Africa
Artiste	Track	Country
Anselmo Ralph	Casas Comigo	Angola
Big Nelo	O Legado Da Lenda	Angola
Fally Ipupa	Eleko Oyo	DRC
Hiro	Ton Pied, Mon Pied ft Chidinma	DRC
Jovie	Ou Meme	Cameroon
Ke Black	Bazardee	DRC
Locko	Supporter ft Mr Leo	Cameroon
Maitre Gims	Tout Donner	DRC
Best Female Artiste Eastern Africa
Artiste	Track	Country
Chess Nthussi	Give it to you	Kenya
Juliana Kanyomozi	I am Still Here	Uganda
Lady Jaydee	Sawa Na Wao	Tanzania
Nandy	One Day	Tanzania
Venesa Mdee	Cash Madame	Tanzania
Victoria Kimani	Giving You ft Sarkodie	Kenya
Wayna Wondersonn	You are not alone	Ethopia
Best Male Artist, Eastern Africa
Artiste	Track	Country
Alikiba	Aje ft M.I	Tanzania
Diamond Platinumz	Eneka	Ethiopia
Henok & Mehari Brothers	Firkir Yishala	Ethopia
Kibrom Birhane	Eskista ft Nassmbu Barasa	Ethiopia
Mua Birhane	Excuse my Language	Kenya
Octopizzo	TBT	Kenya
Sinishaw Legesse	Selam Ethopia	Ethiopia
Qritiqual	Malika	Kenya
Best Female Artist in Southern Africa
Artiste	Track	Country
Amanda Black	Amazulu	South Africa
Babes Wodumo	Family ft Mampintsha & Casper Nyovest	South Africa
Busiswa	Ingqond	South Africa
Lebo Sekgoela	Lion of Judah	South Africa
Ru	Down	Zimbabwe
Sally B oss Madam	Bimbim ft Busiswa	Namibia
Thandiswa	Nontsokolo	South Africa
Best Male Artiste in Southern Africa
Artiste	Track	Country
AKA	The world is yours	South Africa
Emtee	We Up	South Africa
Hugh Masekela	Shango	South Africa
Jah Prayzah	Watora Mari ft Diamond Platnumz	Zimbabawe
Nasty C	Down ft Seyi Shay & MA-E	South Africa
Nduduzo Makhathini	Igagu	South Africa
Tay Grin	Tola ft Vanessa Mdee	Malawi
Best Female Artiste in Northern Africa
Artiste	Track	Country
Asmaa Lmnawar	3ndou Zine	Morocco
Cheba Maria	Kheltini	Algeria
Ibitssam Tiskat	Menak Wla Meni	Morocco
Sherine	Koul Maghani	Egypt
Zaho	Tant De Choses	Algeria
Zina Daoudia	Sayidati	Morocco
Best Male Artiste in Northern Africa
Artiste	Track	Country
Balti	Wela la	Tunisia
Fnaire	Ngol Mali	Morroco
French Montana	Unforgettable	Morocco
Lacrim	Collonel Carillo	Algeria
L’algerino	Less Monetess	Algeria
Shayfeen	Wach Kayn Wader	Morocco
Tasmer Hosny	Ya Maley 3eny	Egypt
Saad Lmajarred	Ghaltana	Morocco
Best Female Artiste in Western Africa
Artiste	Track	Country
Aramide	Why So serious	Nigeria
Becca	Na wash ft Patoranking	Ghana
Oumou Sangare	Yere Faga ft Tony Allen	Mali
Sey Shay	Yolo Yolo	Nigeria
Tiwa Savage	All Over	Nigeria
Viviane Chidid	Lon Kelen ft Banlieuzart	Senegal
Yemi Alade	Tumbum	Nigeria
Zeynab	Noctambule ft Shadow Chris)	Benin
Best Male Artiste in Western Africa
Artiste	Track	Country
Davido	Fall	Nigeria
Dj Arafat	Agbangnan	Cote D’voire
MHD	La Puissance	Guinea
Me Eazi	Leg Over	Nigeria
Runtown	Mad Over You	Nigeria
Sarkodie	Pain Killer	Ghana
Tekno	Rara	Nigeria
Wizkid	Come Closer ft Drake	Nigeria
Ycee	Juice ft Maleek Berry	Nigeria

    The highly anticipated Nominees List for the 2017 AFRIMA Awards which has the biggest acts on the continent was announced in the presence of officials of the African Union Commission, members of the AFRIMA Jury comprising of Charles Tabu (DRC), Robert E. Ekukole (cameroun). Christian Syren (South Africa), David Tayorault (cote de voire), Olisa Adibua (Nigeria), Joett Namatta (Tanzania), Tabu Osusa (kenya) Hadja Kobélé Keita(Guinea) and Omar Es Saidi (morocco) , members of the International Committee of AFRIMA, past AFRIMA winners and nominees, media executives and other stakeholders in the creative and entertainment industries in Africa. According to Mr. Chris Cyren, the juror from Southern Africa, 4,816 entries from African music professionals and music artistes were received at the close of a two-month entry submission window on July 17 this year. He described the nominations process as rigorous and thorough, as he emphasized on the Jury’s resolve to be fair and transparent in line with the AFRIMA values of FACEIT (fairness, authenticity, creativity, excellence, integrity,transparency). Charles Tabu, AFRIMA’s juror from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),harped on the need for music lovers in Africa to explore different genre ofmusic from all regions on the continent. Commenting on a question of the criteria of nominees, Mr Bob Ekukole from Cameroon representing Central Africa reiterated that ‘the nominees were picked based on productionquality, talent and creativity, melody, originality and authenticity, composition and arrangement. It has to do with the quality of music not onthe number of views from any online video platform, some songs from certain regions have more than half a billion views and would have garnered the awards based on such sentiment but it is not so. It has to do with quality.’ Ms Angela Martins, Head, Culture Division, African Union Commission, AUC, noted that the adjudication process was a comprehensive and superb work of the jurors. She also noted the great improvement of the submissions this year, as it is more impressive than previous years. ‘’This robust submission this year clearly shows the appreciation and recognition of the music awards.’’ She noted that the African Union Commission is geared towards investing in the youth by involving them in the African Union’s 2063 Agenda, which intends to make the youth evolve a desire and expertise in the needed developmental facets of Africa in all areas She also reiterated the AU and AFRIMA’s objectives of unity among African artistes and the need for continental integration while celebrating its rich music and heritage. The Best Female Artistes and Best Male Artistes of the five regions have been released while the nominees in the continental categories will be announced on Friday, August 11,2017. Public voting for the nominees in the different categories of the awards will open on August 21,2017 on www.afrima.org. In partnership with the AUC,A range of rich and exhilarating events for The AFRIMA 2017 such as theMusic Village and the AFRIMA Music Business Summit are slated on November 10-12,2017 and will be broadcast across 84 countries around the world.]]>