SINCE launching her solo career three years ago, singer Tenza has recorded a handful of well-received songs.

Last month, she got to expose them during an eye-opening trip to The Gambia where she did two shows, one of them a performance for the country’s president, Dr Yahya Jammeh.

Tenza (born Jaseen Foster) performed in the West African nation for the first time, appearing on the Brikarma Music Festival on February 15.

She says she was invited by Jammeh to perform at 22 July Square venue to celebrate Gambia’s 48th year of independence three days later.

More than 20,000 people attended the event.

“Performing for the Gambian president has been the highlight of my musical career to date, as I got to meet him in person,” she said. “I was also very pleased to learn that he has a real love for reggae music. He used Bob Marley’s One Love track as signature for his arrival at every event.”

Tenza is the latest reggae artiste to visit The Gambia. In early 2012, Guyana-born, London-based music producer Neal ‘Mad Professor’ Fraser led a group of his Ariwa label artistes there for a series of shows.

The Montego Bay-born Tenza acknowledged a growing market for Jamaican music.

“Reggae music continues to grow in this section of the globe and I am elated that my name and music is a part of this growth,” she said.

Tenza, whose songs include This Is Me, Push N Turn, War is On and Know Mi, hails from the community of Kempshot in Montego Bay but migrated to the United Kingdom at age 14 and was raised in Slough.

After relative success with the vocal group Fya which was once signed to giant rap label Def Jam Records, she went solo in 2010.

Tenza’s next live dates are three shows alongside veteran gospel deejay Stitchie in the UK next mont