'Reyka' Will Represent Africa at This Year's International Emmy Awards

The list of nominees for this year's International Emmy Award ceremony has been released, and the tip of Africa has been assigned as this year's representation for the continent. South Africa is the only country to be included on this year's roster and received nods in three categories: TV drama Reyka earned Best Drama and Best Performance by an Actress for its star, South African sweetheart Kim Engelbrecht, and My Better World scored a nomination in the Best Kids Factual & Entertainment program.

Reyka or, The Cane Field Killings as it's called in some countries, is a thriller series that centers around the title character Reyka as she battles to understand a world that is committed to keeping her in the dark. After being kidnapped as a child in 1994 apartheid South Africa, Reyka escapes and dedicates the rest of her life to not only protecting her own child but fighting those who are powerful enough to make people disappear. The TV drama has received as much praise locally as it has with international audiences, winning four out of the eight South African Film and Television Awards it was nominated for at this year's award ceremony. Veteran South African actress Engelbrecht's stellar performance in the show has also not gone unnoticed, as the artist received the award for Best Actress in a TV drama during the same ceremony. Now, having garnered attention across the world, Engelbrecht has yet to let us down with her talent.

And in a feel-good sign that we're looking after the children, kids' show My Better World receives a nomination and acknowledgment for the important task of representation it has mastered. The show follows six African teens as they battle their hormones and demons, while learning to understand the strange world around them.

23 countries are represented across the nominations, and the lack of further representation across the continent is definitely disappointing, considering how many fantastic original African TV shows have come out this year. However, those nominated have made a huge accomplishment and now have the full force of the rest of Africa rooting for them come November 21st when the awards ceremony takes place in New York.