The organizers of the African Genius Awards 2022 has on Thursday confirmed that the judging process has commenced. Dr Sifiso Falala, the founder of the awards confirmed this to The African Dream in a Zoom interview on Thursday.

The nomination portal was open to the public last year and it has been confirmed that over 60 nominations were received and Sierra Leone has the highest number of nominees. According to the organizers, there will be three phases of the judging process:

• The first phase is the evaluation process which will see 30 out of the 60+ nominees make it to the second phase.
• The second phase is the vetting process. In this phase, the top 30 finalists will go through rigorous checks and balances by the high calibre of judges. After a series of professional evaluations, the top 30 will be cut down to the last 10
• The last and final phase is the awarding phase. The judges will award the finalists based on their passing grade scored.

The first edition of the awards was held last year May 25 at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. This year, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the awards will be held virtual (online) live on the University of Pretoria YouTube Channel.

This year’s ceremony will be held at the University of Pretoria’s Future Africa Institute.

You can watch the first edition here

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE AFRICAN GENIUS AWARDS

The African Genius Awards are a special project undertaken by the company Priority Performance Projects based in South Africa. They aim to recognise exceptional Africans that have made an outstanding contribution towards the realisation of African self-determination, dignity and exceptionalism. Due to the nature of African problems, The African Genius Awards recognise the impact of lack of problem-solving skills, tedious processes and costly methods of commerce and social resourcing and mobilisation. Exceptional skills in these areas are, among other skills, taken into account in the awards.

The first edition of the African Genius Awards took place on May 25 this year at the prestigious University of Pretoria, South Africa. Due to Covid-19 restrictions and regulations, the awards were held virtually. Three African geniuses were announced as winners from the dozens of nominations received. These individuals, past and present, in one way or another, have contributed immensely to the development of their countries and communities through activism, business, and literature. These three men (Aliko Dangote, Steve Biko, and Chinua Achebe) awarded by African Genius Awards are amongst the most celebrated and the most popular Africans in Africa and beyond.