Source: Africa Publicity
Ghanaian singer, Wendy Shay was adjudged the Best Female Artiste in Western Africa at the 9th AFRIMA awards, with leading Nigerian afrobeats stars, Rema, Burna Boy and Shallipopi, dominating the awards.
The 9th AFRIMA awards ceremony brought together top artistes, producers from across Africa and the diaspora. The colorful ceremony was held on Sunday, January 11, 2026 at the Eko Events Center in Lagos’ Victoria Island.
AFRIMA is an African-based music awards ceremony honouring African artistes and music produced in every region of the continent over the past one year. It celebrates their commercial success, cultural impact and growing global recognition since it was created in 2014.
Wendy Shay is one Ghana’s top musical artistes. Her songs include: ‘Survivor’, ‘Emergency’, ‘Who Cares?’, ‘Kiss Me On The Phone’.
Major wins at 9th AFRIMAÂ
Rema continued his impressive run with three award wins, the most by any artiste on the AFRIMA awards night, confirming the crossover appeal of his songs beyond Nigeria’s borders. The ‘Calm Down’ singer edged South Africa’s Big Zulu, Morocco’s Manal and Nigeria’s Kunmie to win the ‘Best African Artiste, Duo or Group in African RnB & Soul’ category for his hit song, ‘Baby (Is It A Crime)’.
Similarly, the Mavin signee also won the Best Male Artiste in Western Africa award ahead of Wizkid, Davido, Burna Boy, Asake and Ghana’s Black Sherif. Rema further cemented his reign on the night after winning one of the most coveted categories at the AFRIMA awards, Artiste of the Year.
Closely following Rema in the awards tally was Shallipopi, who bagged two awards from the four nominations he earlier received. The Plutomania Records artiste won ‘Best African Collaboration’ for ‘Laho II’ featuring Burna Boy and ‘Song of the Year’ for his hit single, ‘Laho’.
Moreover, Burna Boy also recorded success with his 2025 album, ‘No Sign of Weakness’, winning the Album of the Year category, beating Davido (‘5ive’), South Africa’s Kelvin Momo (‘Thato Ya Modimo’), Côte d’Ivoire’s Didi B (‘Diyilem & Bazarhoff: Genius’), and Morocco’s El Grande Toto (‘Salgoat’).
Yemi Alade bagged Best Soundtrack in Movie, Series, or Documentary for ‘You Are’ (Iyanu: The Animated Series), while Phyno won Best African Artiste, Duo or Group in African Hip-Hop.
Chella emerged winner of the ‘African Fans’ Favourite’ category, beating BNXN, Rema, Kizz Daniel and Faceless.
Meanwhile, Qing Madi and Valorant won ‘Most Promising Artiste of the Year’ for their hit single, ‘EGO’, while Ethiopian Weeha beat Wizkid to clinch ‘Best African Dance/Choreography’ for ‘Dimama’.
