The KORA All Africa Music Awards are music awards given annually for musical achievement in
sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...
. The awards were founded in 1994 by
Benin born businessman, Ernest Adjovi, after a discussion in
Namibia with the country's President
Hage Geingob.
The award is named after the
kora
Kora may refer to:
Places India
* Kora, Bardhaman, West Bengal
* Kora, Bharuch, Gujarat
* Korha, Katihar, also known as Kora, in Bihar
* Kora, Kendrapara, Odisha
* Kora, Wardha, Maharastra
* Kora, Tumakuru, Karnataka
* Toyaguda, Adilabad, Telan ...
, a West African plucked
chordophone.
The awards have been subject to several postponements since 1994 with a variety of reasons given. Problems have arisen with contracts signed, large sums of monies have been paid and the event postponed.
In 2011 Adjovi was detained by the Nigerian Police Force with allegations he defrauded three Nigerian bodies. In 2008 Adjovi allegedly accepted
S2.5 million for the 2008 Awards to be hosted by the
Cross River State Government. He later allegedly struck an agreement with the
Lagos State Government for US$7.5 million but the awards were not staged until 2010 in
Burkina Faso. At those awards brothers
PSquare
P-Square is a Nigerian music duo consisting of the twin brothers Peter Okoye and Paul Okoye. They produced and released their albums through Square Records (now Square Root Entertainment)
In December 2011, they signed a record deal with Akon ...
were named Artiste of the Year and were awarded a cash prize of $1 million but the prize was not forthcoming.
The 2015 awards were to be held 13 December in
Namibia and a launch event was held in Namibia in May 2015. They were postponed to March 2016 and Adjovi was paid N$23,5 million. The awards did not take place and the whereabouts of Adovi is unknown. Namibia is trying to recover the money.
Since its inception, the KORA Awards has been staged eleven times on the African Continent. For the first ten years (1996-2005 - 9 Awards), the ceremony took place in
South Africa. It has since moved to
Burkina Faso (2010) and
Côte d’Ivoire
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...
(2012).
Winners have come from many different countries:
Algeria,
Angola,
Benin,
Botswana,
Burkina Faso,
Burundi
Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...
,
Cameroon,
Cape Verde
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, official_languages = Portuguese
, national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole
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, demonym ...
,
Comores
The Comoros,, ' officially the Union of the Comoros,; ar, الاتحاد القمري ' is an independent country made up of three islands in southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. It ...
,
Côte d'Ivoire
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...
=
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...
,
Republic of the Congo
The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...
=
Congo
Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa:
* Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...
,
England,
Ethiopia,
France,
Gabon,
Ghana,
Guinea
Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
,
île de la Reunion,
Kenya,
Mali,
Mauitius,
Morocco,
Nigeria,
Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Réunion
Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...
,
Rwanda
Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
,
Senegal,
Seyschelles,
South Africa,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
,
Tchad,
Togo,
Uganda,
United States and
Zimbabwe.
Winners
References
{{Reflist
African music awards