General News
Glitz as AFRIMA Fetes Jurors at Annual Patron’s Dinner
It was an exciting blend of glitz, glam and euphoria as the All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) hosted its annual patron’s dinner with the jury members, held Wednesday, in Lagos, Nigeria.
L-R: AFRIMA Jurors representing Central Africa, Mr Emile Nghumba; and Charles Tabu; Juror representing Eastern Africa Joett; Juror representing Diaspora, North America, Hadja Kobele; AFRIMA Patron, Dr Bisi Onasanya; AFRIMA Executive Producer/President, Mr. Mike Dada; Juror representing Southern Africa, Dehlani Makhalima; Juror representing Western Africa, Guy Neza during the Annual AFRIMA Patron’s dinner held at EbonyLife Place, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria recently
The event, which feted stakeholders in Africa’s creative economy, including media and music executives, and African entertainers, among others, gave a glimpse into what to expect from this year’s edition, as the #RoadToAFRIMA22 continues to take an interesting glide in highlighting and celebrating talents from all parts of Africa.
Also present at the continental event, which in the past nine years, has continued to celebrate African talents, were music enthusiasts, stakeholders, artiste managers, as well as musicians such as Eltee Skhillz, Major AJ, Tariq, among others.
Held at the EbonyLife Place, in Victoria Island, Lagos, the dinner was a close experience into the AFRIMA Award experience, as the dignitaries present met with the jurors, composed of music aficionados from across all five regions in the continent and in the diaspora, as well as a representative from the African Union Commission (AUC).
Hosted by AFRIMA Patron, Dr. Bisi Onasanya, the annual patrons’ dinner with the jury is a special gathering, held during the annual adjudication, to appreciate the jury members for their unflinching support in sieving out the best of talents for nomination at the awards.
The jury members are presently in Lagos, Nigeria, for an 8-day adjudication which began, last Friday, to select the nominees for this year’s edition from 9,076 entries submitted – the highest the awards has ever recorded since inception in 2014. The nominations list would be unveiled Monday, August 22, 2022, while voting begins Wednesday, August 24, 2022.
Onasanya expressed enthusiasm at the successes recorded by AFRIMA, noting that the enduring vision of the award body, in conjunction with the AU, will continue to come to fruition.
He said, “This event is to appreciate all the jury members. They are wonderful. They have been very thorough and have given AFRIMA the credibility it has today. They have been working assiduously for the growth of our creative sector. I am very proud to be associated with AFRIMA.
“African music is taking over the whole world by surprise. You go to other parts of the world these days and you hear African music being played. I am always excited because it didn’t happen a decade ago. The whole world is now respectful of African music, and they are learning from us. This is a great achievement. AFRIMA, last year, was awesome. It was broadcast all over Africa. If you think last year was awesome, just wait until you see what will happen this year.”
In her keynote speech, a juror representing the African Union, who is the Head of the Culture Division at the African Union Commission, Mrs Angela Martins, appreciated the stakeholders in Africa’s creative space, as well as the award’s organisers for their invaluable contribution to the development of the African creative economy.
She said, “The African Union Commission, which has been a partner with AFRIMA since its inception in 2014, wishes to congratulate AFRIMA for its enthusiasm and priceless efforts in promoting the growth and development of the music industry in the continent, despite the challenges including the Ebola crisis in 2015 and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. In 2020, AFRIMA played a key role in supporting the AUC in thinking out of the box and finding creative ways of using music to sensitise the continent on issues relating to the pandemic and to mobilise resources for the AU COVID-19 response fund. Hence, we organised a joint conference titled, Stronger Together.
“Since AFRIMA’s inception, we have been part of this pan-African music platform and we have watched it grow and bear fruits and award the most deserving music talents on the continent. This is an excellent contribution to the development of the creative economy of the continent.
“It has created opportunities for young people in the creative sector. The great work that AFRIMA is doing would not have been possible without the support of well-wishers and believers in the potential and viability in the creative economy of the continent.
“We know that this is enormous for the well-wishers and supporters, but on this occasion, we wish to pay special tribute to the AFRIMA patron who came on board last year and has been supporting this pan-African music initiative wholeheartedly and unconditionally. His support has increased the visibility of the award. We appreciate and salute him.
“We also wish to express gratitude to the AFRIMA jury from the five regions of the continent and from the diaspora who have supported and believed in this initiative. The adjudication process is a long process and it requires dedication, fairness, transparency and hard work. It takes An African music lover to perform their duties in the way they have been doing so since the inception of the process. We applaud them. We also wish to thank the media whose work has been essential in ensuring the popularisation and growth of the cultural and creative sector of the continent.”
Another juror representing Western Africa, Mr Motolani Alake, appreciated the AFRIMA team for its efforts in promoting African talent, encouraging African music lovers to unite and consolidate efforts in developing the continent’s creative sector.
“I really wanted to serve the world and Africa. I have learned great things and learned a lot about talents and our impact here. I want to encourage everybody to know that as much as African music is travelling all over the world now, it is also important to support our own and watch it grow,” he said.
Similarly, another juror representing Central Africa, Mr Charles Tabu, lauded the prospects in AFRIMA’s drive to boost inclusiveness in her mission to celebrate and spotlight African talent on a global stage.
He said, “It gladdens me to see the creative work that comes out of Africa being awarded. I would like to thank the entertainers for always submitting their entries and believing in the growth of the African creative space. I am from Francophone Africa and I am glad to see artistes from all regions get a chance to be celebrated across the continent and in the diaspora.”
Giving his vote of thanks, AFRIMA’s Executive Producer/President, Mr Mike Dada, appreciated believers in Africa’s creative industry, adding that AFRIMA’s work would remain consistent in achieving its objective.
“I am delighted by the support from every stakeholder in our creative economy, from the Patron, to the media, to the entertainers and record executives. I am delighted that we are working closely to make Africa great again. The idea of the patron’s dinner is to thank our jury members. They sit for 18 hours daily for 10 days to sieve out the best talents from several thousands to be nominated for the respective categories they fall under. We do this yearly. And we are not resting on our oars. Together, we will make Africa the pride of the world.”
As the event raced to its end, AFRIMA’s patron, Onasanya who was surrounded by family, friends and well-wishers, was surprised with a special cake to celebrate his 61st birthday.
Born August 18, 1961, Onasanya, who is a firm believer in the potential of the African creative sector, built a legacy within the African financial and banking sector over the years. After his meritorious retirement, in 2015, the mogul delved into the luxury real estate development sector, currently thriving as a leading player within that sector as the founder and Chairman of The Address Homes, in addition to impacting other spheres, including Africa’s culture and creative scene.
The AFRIMA awards ceremony will feature a 4-day fiesta of music, glitz, and glamour. The event is scheduled to commence with the welcome soiree, followed by the AFRIMA Music Village, the host city tour, African Music Business Summit, and the exclusive nominees’ party and concluded with the live awards ceremony broadcast to over 84 countries around the world.
African music lovers can take part in the events on social media, live stream on the AFRIMA website at www.afrima.org and visit the social media platforms (Instagram – Afrima.official; Twitter – Afrimawards), and they can watch the event coverage by tuning in to their local and cable TV providers.
In partnership with the African Union Commission, AFRIMA is a youth-focused music platform that recognizes and rewards the work and talents of African artistes across generations and primarily stimulates conversations among Africans, and also the rest of the world, especially on the potential of the creative arts for fostering real human enterprise, contributing significantly to social cohesion, economic growth as well as sustainable development in Africa.
Federal High Court in Abuja has adjourned the Federal Government’s alleged tax evasion case against Binance Holdings Ltd. cryptocurrency exchange, until September 24, 2026, to allow both parties more time to pursue an out-of-court settlement.
Justice Emeka Nwite fixed the new date on Thursday after Moses Ideho, counsel to the Federal Government, informed the court that discussions aimed at resolving the dispute amicably were still ongoing.
Ideho, a deputy director of Legal and Prosecution at the Nigeria Revenue Service (formerly the Federal Inland Revenue Service), told the court that the matter, which had been scheduled for a report on settlement or continuation of trial, could not proceed.
According to him, one reason for the delay was the reported elevation of Justice Nwite to the Court of Appeal, while the second was the continued reconciliation efforts between the parties.
“The parties are still exploring settlement in the charge that led to this case,” Ideho told the court.
Sunday Agaji, counsel to Binance, did not oppose the application for adjournment, following which Justice Nwite postponed proceedings until September 24 for either a report on the settlement discussions or continuation of trial.
The case was previously adjourned on May 12 after both the Federal Government and Binance informed the court that negotiations were underway to settle the matter outside the courtroom.
Binance had first indicated its willingness to pursue an amicable resolution on March 24.
The cryptocurrency company was re-arraigned on July 12, 2024, on a four-count charge bordering on alleged tax evasion.
Ayodele Omotilewa, Nigerian representative, pleaded not guilty on behalf of the company.
The re-arraignment followed the removal of Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan and his colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla, from the charge after the Federal Government amended the case to make Binance Holdings Ltd the sole defendant.
Justice Nwite had, on June 14, 2024, discharged and struck out the names of Gambaryan and Anjarwalla after the prosecution filed the amended charge.
Binance is also facing a separate criminal prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which accuses the company of laundering about $35.4m.
In addition, the Nigeria Revenue Service is pursuing a separate civil suit against Binance before another judge of the Federal High Court, seeking approximately $79.5bn in alleged economic losses linked to the company’s operations in Nigeria.
Oodua Youth Coalition (OYC), a Yoruba socio-cultural group, has issued a notice to stage peaceful picketing at MTN Nigeria offices nationwide.
This action stems from the company’s alleged failure to publicly condemn recent xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in South Africa.
This is coming despite statement by Karl Toriola, chief executive officer, MTN Nigeria, who recently said that MTN may have originated from South Africa, he explained, but MTN Nigeria is a Nigerian publicly quoted company, managed by Nigerians and with a Nigerian board.
However, in a statement jointly signed Olatunji Adejuwon and Olaoye Abolaji,vice president and national secretary respectively of OYC, described MTN Nigeria’s silence as unacceptable, given the company’s South African roots and the patronage it enjoys from Nigerians
The coalition said it would proceed with a peaceful protest if the telecommunications company continued to ignore its demands, stressing that the action was intended to draw attention to the need for corporate responsibility and moral leadership in condemning xenophobic attacks against fellow Africans.
“Consequently, the Oodua Youth Coalition hereby gives notice that we shall, without hesitation, commence a peaceful picketing of MTN Nigeria’s offices if the company continues to ignore our legitimate demands.
“Our action is intended to draw attention to the need for corporate responsibility and moral leadership in condemning acts of xenophobia against fellow Africans,” the statement said.
The group renewed its call on MTN Nigeria to immediately convene a press conference, with representatives of the coalition in attendance, to unequivocally condemn the xenophobic attacks and reaffirm its commitment to the safety, dignity and unity of all Africans.
It maintained that the proposed protest would be peaceful, orderly and in accordance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
According to the coalition, relevant security agencies have been notified of the planned action, while appropriate communications have also been sent to the South African diplomatic mission in Nigeria.
“We once again call on MTN Nigeria to immediately convene a press conference, with representatives of the Oodua Youth Coalition in attendance, to unequivocally condemn the xenophobic attacks and reaffirm its commitment to the safety, dignity and unity of all Africans.
“We emphasise that our proposed action shall remain peaceful, orderly and in accordance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Relevant security agencies have been duly notified, and appropriate communications have also been sent to the South African diplomatic mission in Nigeria.”
Reaffirming its commitment to defending the rights and dignity of Nigerians, the coalition vowed not to relent until its concerns received the desired attention.
“The Oodua Youth Coalition remains committed to defending the dignity of Nigerians and promoting African solidarity. We will not relent until our concerns receive the attention they deserve,” the statement added.
Responding to the controversy, Toriola further condemned all forms of xenophobia and violence against Africans living in South Africa, insisting that MTN Nigeria is a Nigerian company with substantial local ownership.
“We unequivocally condemn any form of xenophobia, violence or attacks against any community in the world. We’re a Nigerian company, through and through. We’re listed on the stock exchange with over 201,000 retail investors, and 11 million people hold shares through their pension funds in MTN Nigeria.
“We provide the digital backbone of the economy, and we have a completely Nigerian entity.
“Yes, MTN was founded in South Africa, and the parent company that is the majority shareholder is South African. But let’s also look at it objectively. The shareholding of MTN Holding South Africa is only 50 per cent African.
“The remaining 50 per cent is from across the world — 27 per cent from the United States, with the rest from the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region,” Toriola said.
By Bidemi Oke
Every civilisation has been built on one invisible infrastructure. The Romans built roads. The Industrial Revolution built electricity. The Internet built information. The next economy may be built on something far less tangible.
Trust
That sounds counterintuitive because we have spent centuries believing that money is the foundation of every economy. It isn’t. Money has never been the foundation; it has simply been the mechanism through which trust is exchanged. Every major financial innovation, from coins and paper notes to credit cards, online banking and blockchain, has been humanity’s attempt to solve the same problem: “how do we help strangers trust one another without ever meeting?”
Seen through that lens, today’s financial revolution looks very different.
Most discussions about digital finance revolve around whether cash will disappear. We debate mobile wallets, central bank digital currencies, cryptocurrency, real-time payments and digital banking. Yet these conversations often mistake the visible change for the actual transformation.
The real shift is not that money is becoming digital. The real shift is that trust is becoming programmable. That single idea explains why the financial landscape is changing faster than many people realize.
For decades, finance has depended on institutions to create confidence. Banks verified identities, governments authenticated currencies, contracts relied on lawyers, payment networks validated transactions and every exchange involved an intermediary whose primary role was to reassure two parties that the system could be trusted.
Technology is quietly rewriting that arrangement
Today, identities can be verified digitally. Transactions can be authenticated within seconds, smart contracts can execute agreements automatically once predefined conditions are met, and artificial intelligence can detect suspicious activity before humans notice it. Increasingly, confidence is being built into the infrastructure itself rather than added afterwards.
This is why I believe we need a new way to think about the evolution of finance, not as a journey from cash to digital payments, but as “three generations of financial trust”.
The first generation was Physical Trust. Trust was tied to tangible assets like gold, paper currency, handwritten signatures and face-to-face interactions. Confidence came from what people could physically see and hold.
The second generation was Institutional Trust. As economies expanded, institutions became the guarantors of financial confidence. Banks, regulators, payment networks and financial intermediaries enabled transactions at a scale impossible through personal relationships alone. Trust shifted from physical objects to established organisations.
We are now entering the third generation: Programmable Trust.
Here, trust is embedded directly into technology. Verification happens automatically. Payments settle in real time, financial services become integrated into everyday experiences instead of existing as separate destinations. Increasingly, people interact with trusted systems rather than trusted institutions alone. That distinction is more profound than it first appears.
Many organisations still measure digital transformation by counting how many services have moved online, but digitising an existing process is not the same as redesigning how trust flows through an economy. Converting paperwork into an application does not automatically create a digital financial ecosystem.
This explains why some economies process millions of digital transactions every day yet continue to face friction, inefficiency and limited financial inclusion. The missing ingredient is rarely another payment platform. More often, it is interoperable infrastructure, trusted digital identity, consistent regulation and systems capable of working together seamlessly.
In other words, the future of finance will not be determined by who builds the fastest application. It will be determined by who builds the most trusted ecosystem.
This has significant implications for Africa. The continent has rightly earned global recognition for accelerating digital financial adoption. Yet the next opportunity extends beyond increasing transaction volumes. The greater challenge is designing financial infrastructure where payments, identity, data, compliance and commerce interact intelligently rather than operating in isolation.
That is where long-term competitive advantage will emerge. Perhaps the greatest irony of all is that the more advanced finance becomes, the less visible it will appear.
People rarely think about the internet protocols that power a video call or the cloud infrastructure supporting an online purchase. Likewise, future generations may hardly think about payment rails, settlement networks or blockchain architecture. Financial experiences will simply happen securely, instantly and almost invisibly.
History suggests that successful technologies eventually disappear from our attention not because they become less important, but because they become so reliable that we stop noticing them altogether.
So, are we entering a fully digital financial economy? Perhaps that is no longer the right question.
A more useful question is whether we are entering an economy where trust itself becomes digital infrastructure because if that is true, then the organisations shaping the future of finance are not merely moving money more efficiently.
They are redesigning how entire economies create confidence at scale and that may prove to be the most valuable innovation of all.
Bidemi Oke is the Chief Executive Officer of FlashChange, a fintech platform focused on secure digital asset exchange. He is an entrepreneur and vibrant leader, recognized for driving innovation and redefining access in the financial technology industry.
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