The figure, which was garnered from entertainers across all five African regions, as well as Europe and North America, represented a 2.2 percentage increase from the 8,880 entries recorded in the 2021 edition. The entries submission began on Monday, May 30 and closed by midnight on Friday, August 5. 

"This development is a clear indicator that AFRIMA is the pinnacle of African music globally, and Africans value the importance of celebrating themselves, as culture remains one of our strongest tools for global unification, as well as economic growth," AFRIMA Juror representing  diaspora, North America, Hadja Kobele, commented. 

Nikita Kering "Best Female Artiste Eastern Africa" 2021 AFRIMA

Interestingly, from the array, Eastern African region led the trail with 2,890 entries, representing 31.8 percent; while West African region followed closely with 2,863 entries, representing 31.5 percent; and Southern African region joined in the race with 1,659 entries, representing 18.2 percent; while Central Africa comes fourth with 941 entries, representing 10.3 percent; complementing the 373 entries from Northern African entertainers who represented 3.8 percent, while the remaining 349 entries from the diaspora represented 4.1 percent of all total submissions. 

In line with the AFRIMA 2022 calendar, a 13-member jury is expected to arrive Lagos, Nigeria, on Thursday August 11, for an 8-day adjudication process that would select the nominees across all existing categories. The jury is composed of seasoned experts across all five regions in the African music industry, as well as the diaspora, specifically North America and Europe.

A world media announcement of the nominees will take place on Monday August 22, 2022 to publicly unveil the nominees. A week after, on Monday August 29, 2022, the AFRIMA Voters Academy, as well as music fans and followers around the globe will begin to participate in the public voting process, which will be held on the AFRIMA website www.afrima.org. Nominees with the highest votes would emerge winners in their respective categories. 

The voting process, which closes 24 hours before the awards ceremony, would be monitored and audited by a reputable international auditing firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The AFRIMA awards ceremony will feature a 4-day fiesta of music, glitz, and glamour. The event is scheduled to commence with the welcome soiree, followed by the AFRIMA Music Village, the host city tour, African Music Business Summit, and the exclusive nominees' party and concluded with the live awards ceremony broadcast to over 84 countries around the world.

African music lovers can take part in the events on social media, live stream on the AFRIMA website at www.afrima.org and visit the social media platforms (Instagram – Afrima.official; Twitter – Afrimawards), and they can watch the event coverage by tuning in to their local and cable TV providers. 

In partnership with the African Union Commission, AFRIMA is a youth-focused music platform that recognizes and rewards the work and talents of African artistes across generations and primarily stimulates conversations among Africans, and also the rest of the world, especially on the potential of the creative arts for fostering real human enterprise, contributing significantly to social cohesion, as well as sustainable development in Africa.