Players in the Ghanaian Gospel music industry are confident the second edition of the National Gospel Music Awards will give a befitting honour to gospel artistes in Ghana.

The award scheme, the first of its kind for Gospel musicians, was instituted in 2017 to recognize artistes and other persons in 30 categories.

Categories have, however, been reduced to 22 with corporate Gospel Song of the Year and Executive Producer of the Year as new additions.

Event coordinator for Royal Akofena, Peter Kwabena Dwabeng Sergio, explains the changes will help improve the awards scheme.

“In every institution you learn as time evolves so after the previous event we had to find the shortfalls and improve on it. We noticed that most of the categories could be drafted into one and that is how come we have cut it down to 22,” he said.

At the launch in Kumasi over the weekend, organizers, Royal Akofena, promised an improvement over last year’s maiden edition.

Musicians and other stakeholders who attended the launch expressed excitement at the scheme which, they say, is long overdue.

For many, it is critical for qualified persons to file entries to sustain the awards.

Veteran gospel act, Kwaku Gyasi indicated gospel musicians should help the awards scheme to thrive.

“ This award scheme is a good thing for us gospel artists. When I was in my peak there wasn’t anything like this for us. So all gospel artists should see this as a boost for us,” he said.