South Africa to Host 2016 MTV Africa Music Awards

The organisers of the MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA) have announced Johannesburg, South Africa, as the host city of the 2016 awards.

The ceremony is scheduled for October 22 at the Northgate Ticket Pro Dome in Johannesburg. South Africa is hosting the event for the third straight year; the coastal city of Durban played host in 2014 and 2015.

Organisers say the nominees for this year’s event will be announced in the coming weeks during pre-award events in Lagos and Johannesburg.

Alex Okosi, the Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Viacom International Media Networks Africa (organisers of the awards) said:

“We are thrilled that the MTV Africa Music Awards will be taking place in Johannesburg, City of Gold, for the first time on October 22. We are looking forward to staging the largest awards show in Africa, in one of the continent’s most vibrant cities. Noted for its exciting youth culture and rich music scene, Joburg will make the perfect backdrop for our biggest MAMA ever.”

The first edition of the MAMA awards was held at the Velodrome in Abuja, Nigeria, on November 22, 2008, three years after the launch of MTV Africa. Trevor Nelson was the host. The awards show was conceived as a platform to celebrate and reward the creativity of contemporary artists on the African continent. Before the MAMA awards, artists from Africa were lumped together with Europe and voted for in a single category known as Best African Artist.

In 2009, the awards moved to Nairobi, Kenya, where the ceremony was held on October 10 at the Moi International Sports Centre. That year’s host was Haitian music legend Wyclef Jean. The awards returned to Nigeria, specifically Lagos, in 2010 and featured a couple of changes as the organisers announced they had remodelled the awards and included new categories for Best Lusophone, Best Anglophone, and Best Francophone artists to better reflect the music and sounds of the entire continent.

After the 2010 edition, the MTV MAMA awards took a three-year pause for unknown reasons. Not much was heard from the organisers in that period. The MAMA awards made its comeback in 2014, staging its 4^th edition at the ICC Durban, hosted bby African-American actor and comedian Marlon Wayans. The fifth edition was also held at the same venue with another African-American actor and comedian, Anthony Anderson, as host.

The award categories for the 2016 edition include:

• Best Male
• Best Female
• Best Group
• Best New Act
• Best Live Act
• Best Collaboration
• Best Hip Hop
• Best Alternative
• Best Francophone
• Best Lusophone
• Best International
• Video of the Year
• Artist of the Year
• Song of the Year
• Personality of the Year
• MTV Base Leadership Award