Nikita Kering wins Best Female East Africa at AFRIMMA Awards 2026
By Katemarthason Okudo, September 16, 2026Kenyan singer and songwriter Nikita Kering has added another AFRIMMA award to her collection after winning Best Female East Africa at the 2026 African Muzik Magazine Awards (AFRIMMA) held in Dallas, United States.
Nikita was recognised in a category that also featured fellow Kenyan artistes Njerae and Bridgit Blue, alongside Tanzania’s Abigail Chams and Zuchu, Ethiopia’s Veronica Adane and Salemia, Rwanda’s Ariel Wayz and Uganda’s Winnie Mwagi.
The latest win brings Nikita’s total AFRIMMA awards to five, several years after she first made her mark at the continental awards.
Sharing the news with her fans on social media on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, Nikita expressed her appreciation after seeing her name announced as the winner. “Yayy thank youuuuu guysss,” she wrote.
Nikita’s earlier AFRIMMA wins
Nikita’s relationship with AFRIMMA dates back to 2019 when she won two awards at the ceremony. At the time, she was recognised as Best Female Artiste in Eastern Africa and also won the Revelation of the African Continent award.
The two wins came as her music career was gaining attention, with songs such as Tragedy helping introduce her sound to a wider audience.
Nikita later returned to the awards in 2021 and once again won Best Female Artiste East Africa. She also took home the Best Artiste, Duo or Group in African R&B and Soul award during the same ceremony.
The 2026 award therefore marks her fifth AFRIMMA trophy, making the latest recognition another addition to a run that began when she was still a teenager.
A career built around music
Nikita began performing at a young age before developing her career as a singer and songwriter. Her music has largely explored R&B, soul, Afro-pop and pop, with her songs often touching on relationships, personal experiences and social issues.
One of the songs that helped draw attention to her music was Tragedy, which addressed violence in romantic relationships. She later released projects including A Side of Me and continued building her catalogue with songs such as Ex.
Her early success also came with recognition outside AFRIMMA. In 2018, she won Best New Artiste at the Pulse Music Video Awards before collecting her first two AFRIMMA trophies the following year.
Nikita on what awards mean to her
While reflecting on her first AFRIMMA wins, Nikita said the recognition meant more to her than simply receiving a trophy.
She explained that winning allowed her to perform on a major African platform and interact with artistes and industry professionals she had not previously encountered.
“As I like to tell people, the award is never about the trophy itself; the trophy for me is a symbol of the whole process,” she said in an interview after her 2019 success.
The singer has since continued to expand her career beyond awards, taking part in projects and platforms that have introduced her music to audiences outside Kenya.
Her work has included collaborations and appearances linked to Coke Studio Africa, while she has also represented Africa through platforms such as BBC 1Xtra and Spotify’s EQUAL Africa programme.
With the 2026 AFRIMMA award now added to her collection, Nikita continues to build on a music career that has seen her move from a young performer to one of Kenya’s recognised voices in contemporary R&B and soul.