Celine Benza gives an emotion-filled performance in Kenya

Through her near two and a half hour setlist, Banza hit high notes that were goosebump-inducing and left the audience staring in amazement.

Banza is on the road, touring the continent. She was the 2019 winner of the RFI Discoveries Prize. As the winner, one of the benefits was the organisation of a concert in Paris, France and an African tour organised by the French Institute. In East Africa, she performed in Nairobi on 5 March and Kampala, Uganda on 7 March.

With a voice so clear and pure and lyrics that bore messages of love, pain, joy, and mystery, Banza commanded the stage with passion and emotions during ‘Te Rembi’, an acoustic guitar ballad, which questions the perception of women's bodies, from both a male and female perspective. “My songs are the stories of my life,” she told Music In Africa.

Banza and her band have been performing together for two years and this is their first international tour. As a solo artist, Banza has previously performed at The Voice Francophone Africa in 2017 and participated in the exhibition Kinshasa 2050: women first! in 2018 before embarking on the recording of her album Te Rembi (My Body), which was released in 2020.

Onstage, Banza had the charisma to converse with the audience (in French) and also showed them some Congolese dance moves. Her solos demonstrated her layers of talent. She can sing, play the guitar and dance with ease at the same time. She also doubles as an actress and videographer.

While the concert felt brief from the reaction of the audience who asked for one more when she disappeared off the stage, her setlist allowed the other three members of her band to show their chemistry as a group as well as their talents. No member appeared more confident onstage than the solo guitarist who also played on the acoustic guitar. He played and danced with such fluid motion. He received one of the loudest cheers during the group’s ending moments.

As she bid the audience good-bye heading to Uganda there was no doubt that she left the audience feeling warm. There is no doubt that the 23-year-old will continue to grow into a fine musician. From the audience’s beaming faces as the band walked off the stage, it seemed that this was something everyone could agree upon.

Celine Banza's African tour dates:

10.03. Moroni, Comoros

13.03. Antananarivo, Madagascar

14.03. Maurice, Mauricious

19.03. Luanda, Angola

20. 03. Luanda, Angola

07.04. Brazaville, Congo

10.04. Lome, Togo

11.04. Cotonou, Benini

15.04. Abidjan, Ivory Coast

16.04. Abidjan Ivory Coast

18.04. Niamey, Niger

23.04. Ndjamena, Chad

23,04. Bamako, Mali

30.04. Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

02.05. Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

22.05. Maputo, Mozambique