Sarkodie, Stonebwoy and Black Sherif are among eight acts nominated for Man of the Year – Music at the 11th EMY Africa Awards. The nominees and the first five honorary honourees were unveiled during a TV3 broadcast on Saturday, 24 October, hosted by Kafui Dey and Keni Ribeiro.
As reported by GBC and Pulse Ghana, the music category also features KiDi, Kweku Smoke and DopeNation, alongside Nigeria’s Asake and Tanzania’s Juma Jux. The ceremony takes place on Saturday, 21 November 2026, at the Grand Arena of the Accra International Conference Centre.
Beyond music, Majid Michel and Chris Attoh are nominated for Actor of the Year alongside Nigeria’s Uzor Arukwe and Femi Adebayo. Designer of the Year features Kenneth Tetteh, Atto Andoh, Kenneth Ize, IB Kamara and Oscar Nyesiga, while Benjamin Asare, Antoine Semenyo, Seth Gyimah and Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi contest Man of the Year – Sports. Melvin Osei Opoku, Julian Owusu, Hashim Samiru, Christian Saint and Dayo Adedeji are up for Discovery of the Year, and seven young people from across the continent, including Ghana’s Candybell Kensah, are nominated for the Youth Changemaker Award, sponsored by Peace First.
The organisers have also named their first honorary honourees. Oseadeeyo Owiredu Wadie I receives the Humanitarian Award, Nigeria’s Dotun Popoola the Creative and Support Art Award, and Mo Abudu the Continental Icon (Media and Film) Award. Chef Abbys (Abena Amoakoaa Sintim-Aboagye) and Wode Maya (Berthold Kobina Ackon) are the Young Achiever honourees. More honourees are expected in the coming week.
Public voting is now open on the official EMY Africa website, emyafrica.com, and fans can also back their favourites by liking nominees’ posts on EMY Africa’s official Instagram page.
Man of the Year – Music is one of the night’s most closely watched prizes, and with Sarkodie, Stonebwoy, Black Sherif and Kweku Smoke all in the running this year, fan bases are already rallying behind their picks on social media ahead of the November ceremony in Accra.
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