Shanah Manjeru, an artiste from Nairobi, Kenya is the youngest ever nominee of All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA). The 13-year-old singer was nominated for her song, ‘God Will Make a Way’. She takes over the spot previously held by another Kenyan singer, Nikita Kering at 17 in 2019.
She is contesting in the ‘Best Female Artiste in African Inspirational Music’ category with Ada Ehi Ft Buchi (Nigeria), Afrie (Uganda), Eden (Cote d’Ivoire), Kamo Mphela (South Africa), Montess (Cameroon), Nata (Sierra Leone), Ruth Asong (Cameroon), Diana Hamilton (Ghana) and Kelly Khumalo (South Africa).
Shanah’s singing talent became evident at the age of three. At age seven, she began to sing officially when her parents put up her first music concert in Ethiopia. In October 2017, at nine years old, Shanah went into professional singing with the release of her debut song, ‘Destiny’. In February 2018, she released her second song, ‘We Are One’ followed closely in April 2018 with ‘Winner’ and ‘God Will Listen’ in December 2018.
In April 2019, Shanah released ‘Worship’ and ‘Worship Symphony’. Her latest songs are the nominated ‘God Will Make a Way’ and ‘Jesus Loves You’ released in August and November 2020 respectively. The singer won the ‘Arts and Culture Award’ category in the Annual African Children of The Year Awards 2019, held in
South Africa and was subsequently nominated as an Ambassador of the Stacey Fru Foundation, South Africa. Shanah’s ‘Winner’ won the ‘Song of the Year Award’ during Kenya Gospel Music Award 2018.
She has performed at several events, including school events, churches, concerts, children’s festivals, birthday parties, at weddings and funerals, on TV gospel shows, and during numerous TV and radio interviews. Shanah, who is the last child of her parents plans to become either a doctor, a singer, a dancer, a gymnast, or a teacher.
AFRIMA 2021 holds at Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos, Nigeria from Friday, November 19 - Sunday, November 21, 2021. Preceding the award ceremony is the African Music Business Summit (AMBS), a platform for business networking and interaction among music professionals which will take place on Friday, November 19, 2021at 8.30am.
AFRIMA Music Fest, an evening of non-stop music concerts with live performances from African music superstars will take place on the same day of November 19 from 6.00pm.
Sunday, November 21, 2021 comes with glitz from Africa’s music superstars, celebrities, and international personalities at AFRIMA Awards ceremony with Red Carpet at 4.30pm and main awards at 7.30pm. Voting and ticket sales are ongoing on AFRIMA website www.afrima.org.
AFRIMA has been regarded as the ultimate celebration and recognition of African talents and creatives globally since 2014.