As a new world order emerges, All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA, in its continued drive and relentless bid to build capacity for knowledge sharing among African music professionals and culture enthusiasts, hosted media practitioners, music professionals and policymakers at a stakeholder parley at the Azaline and Pullman Hotels, in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire on March 24 -26, 2021 where participants expressed their excitements about AFRIMA's team visit.
The media and knowledge sharing session tagged; "the drums will beat again" was set to commence AFRIMA's continent-wide campaign for the unveiling of the 2021 AFRIMA Calendar of Activities scheduled to hold in May this year.
The AFRIMA-Côte d'Ivoire Stakeholder parley specifically revealed details of the AFRIMA "journey so far" and other programs for the annual continental awards to engage music talents and content creators who are key stakeholders and beneficiaries of the awarding process within the francophone region of the continent.
Present at the conference from the AFRIMA secretariats are 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.
In addition to the conference, 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.
According to the Acting Minister, Ministry of Tourism and Francophone Relations, Mr Yves Konan, "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 soonest.
According to the member of AFRIMA The jury, representing West Africa from Côte d'Ivoire, David Tayorault, stated, "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 at Abidjan is to continue the annual dialogue through which musicians, businesses, development partners, fans and the government broaden their perspective of music as a development tool while reviewing restrictions and adopting best practices in the music business amidst covid-19 pandemic.
In partnership with the African Union Commission, (AUC), All Africa Music Awards, 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