Congolese superstars and previous AFRIMA winner, Fally Ipupa, recently serenaded the Mike Dada-led team with enigmatic Rumba melodies and dance moves when the team visited the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The AFRIMA delegates were also treated to a special closed-door performance from AFRIMA winners, such as Majoos and Inoos B.
The visit of the AFRIMA team to DRC was in line with its mandate to develop the African creative ecosystem and discuss possible ways to protect the globally-renowned heritage of Congolese Rumba.
In 2021, Congolese Rumba was, in December 2021, added to the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) list of world intangible heritage, sparking conversation about the need to protect the iconic genre, which has long been revered as the soundtrack of Congolese history.
AFRIMA delegates from its international secretariat, based in Lagos, Nigeria, including the Executive Producer and President, Mike Dada; Olisa Adibua, Victoria Nkong; Ernest Ewane Egnon; Matlou Tsotetsi, met with the Honourable Minister of Integration, DRC, Didier Mazenga, as well as the Honourable Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage, Catherine Kathungu Furaha, in the DRC capital of Kinshasa, as well as the Honourable Yvette Ngandu Kapinga, to discuss a partnership which would see Rumba spotlighted to Africans and the rest of the world as a sound of the future.
Furaha, who received the AFRIMA team with enthusiasm, lauded the initiative, adding that it will be beneficial to allow the Congolese Rumba to play a role in the unification of Africans, as well as develop the entertainment industry in the Central African region.
AFRIMA’s Executive President and Producer, Mike Dada, appreciated the DRC hosts, noting that the partnership was strategic and vital as a prelude to the Biennale of the Culture of Peace and Non-Violence, which is scheduled to hold in Kinshasa at the end of the year.
The AFRIMA team also urges entertainers, across the continent and their counterparts of African descent who are based in the diaspora to submit their entries for possible nomination at the awards this year.