The Ministry of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sport, Arts and Culture has invited artists and music industry stakeholders to help shape the possible return of the Namibian Annual Music Awards (NAMAs), five years after it went dormant.
Namibia’s biggest music awards, known for celebrating artists such as Big Ben, Gazza, KP Illest, King Tee Dee, Lize Ehlers, Top Cheri and the Tswazis, are set to return after major work.
The awards were previously sponsored by Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC) in collaboration with the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) for a decade, until MTC pulled the plug on its funding in 2020.
In its last year of funding, N$10.7 million was pumped into the awards.
Of this amount, N$7.4 million was sponsored by MTC while N$2.8 million was contributed by Huawei, Tafel Lager, Standard Bank, the National Arts Council of Namibia, Air Namibia, J&P Group of Companies, NDTC, Powerplay, Namibia Film Commission, Nascam and Namibia Wildlife Resorts.
The NBC contributed over N$7 million in broadcasting expenses to advertise and televise the event live.
The prize money, which goes directly to the artists, made up 14% of the total budget.
MTC then took a different route and sponsored the MTC Windhoek Fashion Week, pumping in an estimated N$3.6 million from 2020 to 2021.
The telecommunications company also injected N$9.6 million into the MTC 081Music Fest from 2020 to 2021.
Arts minister Sanet Steenkamp yesterday said an industry stakeholder engagement session is set to take place before a budget can be drawn to make the NAMAs comeback a bigger event in the music industry.
“You need to speak to the accounting officer. As you can see, there will be a stakeholders meetings first. No final decision has been made yet,” she said.
The engagement is slated for 14 March as announced by the ministry on social media last week.
However, the deputy director of arts did not respond to questions sent by the time of going to print.
The initiative, made through a partnership with the National Theatre of Namibia, invites all musicians, DJs, producers, media practitioners and music industry professionals.
“This engagement forms part of a consultation process aimed at strengthening the credibility, inclusivity, and impact of the NAMAs, and will be a platform for the music industry to contribute meaningfully to the future direction and development of the NAMAs,” the ministry said.
It also called on artists to complete a survey on its social media to help gather input on the previous NAMAs, expectations for NAMAs 2026, award categories, and industry development needs and workshop topics.
CHANGE THE AWARD SYSTEM
Big Ben says the new NAMAs should not only focus on an award system that celebrates popular artists, but also help shape the industry and support the business side of music.
“I hope they find ways to create long lasting impact and create an award system that shapes the industry and not only award popular people and give them a quick buck but create long lasting impact that trickles down to the business side of things,” he says.
Artists such as Pinehas ‘Zuluboy’ Shikulo say that the involvement of local artists in the development process for the awards is a step in the right direction in understanding the needs of artists.
“It’s important that they go there and share what they feel and think is right for the industry because at the end of the day, these people don’t take us seriously.
How do we make this industry as a proper job like other job opportunities in the country,” he says.
He calls on other local artists to attend the stakeholder engagement and voice their concerns so the industry can grow and artists can be taken seriously.
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