The African Union Commission (AUC), in partnership with the international committee of the All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMAs), unveiled the calendar for the 2022 All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMAs) at a press conference at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Thursday.

The awards, which were first held in 2014, celebrate outstanding musical work on the continent while promoting African cultural heritage.

The 2022 programme will begin with an open call for music submissions from 30 May to 5 August. To qualify, works must have been released between 20 August 2021 and 5 August 2022.

The pre-screening of submissions will be done from 5 to 8 August, with the main screening process taking place between 9 and 16 August. This will be undertaken by a 13-member international jury comprising experienced African music experts and practitioners drawn from the continent and diaspora.

The nominees will be unveiled on 17 August, after which voting will be open on the AFRIMAs website(link is external) on 24 August. The voting process, which closes 24 hours before the awards ceremony, will be monitored by international auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The awards will be held from 3 to 6 November with fringe activities including a welcome soiree, the AFRIMA Music Village, a host city tour, the African Music Business Summit, and a nominees’ party. The AFRIMAs have not yet confirmed the host city.

“Africa remains resilient and progressive in everything, and this is why our entertainment sector continues to make such huge leaps globally,” AUC director for health, humanitarian affairs and social development Cisse Mariama Mohamed said. “At the forefront of this lies our resolve to unite the continent through entertainment. AFRIMA is committed to this mission, upholding this tradition of celebrating the scintillating musical culture of Africa by featuring exhilarating pan-African events throughout the year. We are looking forward to celebrating the richness of the African continent alongside AFRIMA in November.”

At the 2021 AFRIMAs in Lagos, Nigeria, Malian singer Iba One walked away with five awards  – the most on the night. Nigeria’s Wizkid won the Artist of the Year, Best Collaboration and Song of the Year awards.