Takana Zion of Guinea won the Best African Act Reggae, Ragga & Dancehall category at the All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) which took place on January 11 in Lagos, Nigeria.

The singer, who has collaborated with Jamaican artistes including Bunny Wailer and Winston McAnuff, topped nine rivals with On My Eyes, a song he both wrote and produced.

Dancehall acts Shenseea, Skillibeng, and Kranium were also in the running. Shenseea and Skillibeng collaborated with Moliy of Ghana on Shake it To The Max, while Kranium worked with Ruger of Nigeria on Dudu.

Released in December 2024, Shake it To The Max is produced by Jamaican Silent Addy. Last year, it peaked at #44 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and #12 on the United Kingdom national chart.

Takana Zion is a rising force in African reggae in the mould of trailblazers like Alpha Blondy and Tiken Jah Fakoly of Cote d’Ivoire and Nigerian Majek Fashek. Like those artistes, he has a following in Europe, especially France.

For the past 15 years he has worked with Maka Lox, a Jamaican musician based in France. One of their first collaborations was Good Life, Takana Zion’s 2014 album, which was recorded at Tuff Gong studios in Kingston.

It was the ninth staging of AFRIMA, Africa’s version of the Grammy Awards, which took place at the Eko Events Centre. It was dominated by artistes from Nigeria including Rema, who won Best Male Artiste and Artiste of The Year.

The singer won a third award for Best African Artiste, Duo or Group in African R&B & Soul.

Burna Boy, his compatriot, won for Album Of The Year with No Sign of Weakness and Best African Collaboration — Laho which featured Shallipopi, another Nigerian.