African acts shine at International Reggae and World Music Awards

They included Ghana’s Shatta Wale who won the Best Virtual Entertainer of the Year Award and also performed at the ceremony. The gong arrives three years after the singer received an honoree award at the IRAWMAs. Other Ghanaian musicians who picked up awards on the night were Sarkodie, who clinched the Best Virtual Showcase/Concert trophy, and DJ Switch and Kwame Yeboah who walked away with the Best Young Entertainer and the Best Instrumentalist trophies, respectively.

South African musicians Master KG's global hit ‘Jerusalema’ featuring Nomcebo Zikode got top honours in the Best Music Video category, with Zikode also being named the Best New Entertainer at the awards.

Zimbabwe's Winky D scooped the Best African Dancehall Entertainer gong ahead of Buffalo Souljah, Shatta Wale, Stonebwoy and Patoranking, while Vachi Kepwe Di Poet scored the Mutabaruka Award for Best Poet/Spoken Word Entertainer.

Ahead of the event, IRAWMA founder Ephraim Martin noted that this year was characterised by strong African influence and saw heavy support for artists from the continent. “The voting was simply amazing,” he told local media. “The music fans went all out, especially in Africa. South Africa went crazy with the voting, other African countries like Ghana and Zimbabwe were also up there.”

Asides African musicians, another notable winner included Jamaica's Koffee, who picked up the Gregory Isaacs Award for Best Song with ‘Lockdown’ and the coveted Bob Marley Award for Entertainer of the Year went to Buju Banton. The musican also walked away with the Marcus Garvey Humanitarian Award and the Toots Hibbert Award for Best Album/CD for his 2020 LP Upside Down.