Wizkid Wins “Best African Music Act”, Ayra Starr Takes “Best International Act” at 2026 MOBO Awards
The 2026 MOBO Awards, held for the first time in Manchester at the Co-op Live Arena on March 26, delivered predictable results in its African and international categories: Wizkid won Best African Music Act, and Ayra Starr won Best International Act.
Wizkid beat a shortlist stacked with Nigerian and African talent: Davido, Rema, Shallipopi, Tiwa Savage, Adekunle Gold, Ayra Starr, Tyla, Joshua Baraka, and Moliy. This brings his MOBO total to seven, the most of any African artist on record. Ayra Starr defeated Cardi B, Gunna, Kehlani, Clipse, and others in the broader international field. It was her second straight win in the category after taking it in 2025.
The split is telling. Ayra Starr, at 23, has now joined Wizkid and Burna Boy as the only Nigerians with multiple Best International Act victories and the only woman in that group. In 2025 she also became the first African female to win Best African Music Act in 16 years. This year she lost that category back to Wizkid. The pattern is clear: the older guard still controls the home-territory prize, while the next generation is locking down the global one.
Nigerian acts have owned these two MOBO slots for years. Wizkid won both categories in 2021. Burna Boy cleaned up the international prize in 2020 and 2022. The 2026 results do not signal a changing of the guard so much as a division of labour. Afrobeats remains the dominant African export, but the domestic competition is brutal enough that no single artist sweeps both awards anymore. The nominees list itself—heavy with Lagos-based names—shows how concentrated the talent pool has become.
MOBO was created to platform Black British music and its diaspora sources. Giving separate recognition to the “African Music Act” alongside the wider “International Act” acknowledges that Afrobeats operates on its own scale and timeline. The wins do not change chart positions or streaming numbers, but they confirm that UK gatekeepers still treat Nigerian output as essential to the Black music conversation rather than a niche add-on.
The facts stand on their own: two Nigerian artists, two different categories, same outcome as the last several cycles—continued control of the categories built for them. The rest of the evening belonged to UK acts like Olivia Dean (Album and Song of the Year) and Central Cee (Hip-Hop), but the African and international slots stayed in Lagos. That is the story.
