Renowned South African music superstar, Yvonne Chaka Chaka; Ugandan music activist and parliamentarian, Bobi Wine; Internationally acclaimed video and audio disk jockey, DJ Van; Nigerian music executive, Kenny Ogungbe; Ghanaian entertainment and media owner, Bola Ray; and President of the Musicians Union of Ghana, MUSIGA, Bice Osei Kuffour (also known as Obour), will be joined by other well-known African and international music intellectuals, professionals and enthusiasts for discussions and networking during the 2018 Africa Music Business Summit (AMBS).

The summit is one of the activities lined up for the 5th All Africa Music Awards (5th AFRIMA-Ghana 2018) scheduled for Thursday, November 22, at the Ballroom, Kempinski Hotel, Gold Coast City, Accra, Ghana.

Holding under the theme, “African Music in a Global Village: Leveraging the Opportunities”, AMBS is a platform for business networking and interaction among music professionals, music executives, government officials and other stakeholders in the music, arts, entertainment, and financial sectors of Africa. It creates an engaging environment for discussions on how the potentials present in the continent's music industry can be fully harnessed for socio-economic gains.

The 5th AFRIMA Summit will be opened with welcome address by Ghana’s Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Ghana, Honourable Catherine Afeku. It will also feature a keynote address from the Commissioner of Social Affairs, African Union Commission, Mrs. Amira Elfadil.

These will be followed by two panel sessions and each session populated with experienced panelists who have broad ranging professional practice from the relevant sectors of culture, music and entertainment around the globe. The first session will feature a Master Class on Song writing, which will be coordinated by Joe Chialo (Senior Vice President A&R Universal Music Central Europe & Africa).

Ms. Chaka Chaka will deliver the panel paper for the first session on the topic “Africa as a Brand: The Role of Music and Culture”. Confirmed panellists for session one include: Bobi Wine (music artiste, member of Ugandan Parliament, entrepreneur & humanitarian); Bice Osei Kuffour also known as Obour (President, Musicians Union of Ghana, MUSIGA); Gervais Hugues Ondaye (Cultural Operator & General Director of the International Festival of Traditional Music (FESPAM), Congo Brazzaville); Kenny Ogungbe (Music producer, Record Label owner, television host & Media Owner); Betty G (music artiste & 5th AFRIMA nominee); and Hamza El Fadly (music artiste & 5th AFRIMA nominee).

The paper presentation for the second session will be done by the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Cultural Diplomacy Expert, Damien Pwono, who was recently appointed Secretary General of the International Music Council at UNESCO in Paris, on the topic “Building Sustainable Partnerships in the Music Ecosystem”. Panellists for this session will include Nat Kwabena Anokye-Adisi also known as Bola Ray (CEO, Excellence in Broadcasting, EIB, Network Ghana); Gaz Mawete (music artiste & 5th AFRIMA nominee); DJ Van (music artiste & 5th AFRIMA nominee); Daphne (music artiste & 5th AFRIMA nominee) and Rab Bakari (Producer, entrepreneur, DJ and artist agent).

Expressing gratitude to AFRIMA for the great opportunity, Ms. Chaka Chaka commented: “I am happy to show my support for the AFRIMA Awards in Ghana. I always say that I am an African first and we need to support one another.”

Attending the summit will be stakeholders in the Arts, Culture and entertainment sectors including; music artiste/songwriters, music producers, record label owners, owners of publishing/entertainment companies, associations of music professional, policymakers in the art and culture sector, lawyers, journalist, students and many more.

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