From record labels to bands to radio programs and clubs, institutions that support African music in this country tend to be short-lived. All the more reason why 10 years of the radio program Africa Kabisa (heard on Sunday afternoons from 4 to 6 on WMBR 88.1 FM, and Webcast live at http://www.wmbr.org/) is something to celebrate. For the occasion, the program has teamed up with Club Waffu, another veteran outfit in Boston’s Afropop scene, to present a full-scale soukous-ndombolo blowout with Awilo Longomba and his nine-piece band from Paris. The action goes down this Friday at the Greek American House in Central Square.

Africa Kabisa host Julia Goldrosen says her show picked up the slot held by an earlier WMBR program on African music, Alien’s Corner, which folded in 1992. "I was a big fan of that show. I had been doing radio since about 1980 over at WHRB. I had done jazz and reggae and also hosted the jump-blues show, but I wanted to do something more connected to the community. In the late ’80s and early ’90s, there started to be African dance clubs around town, and that’s when I really got into African music. I learned a lot from the DJs at those clubs. So after Alien’s Corner went off the air, I wanted to continue the tradition."

At first, music from the Congo (then Zaire) was the program’s lifeblood: soukous, rumba, kwassa-kwassa, and the current variety, ndombolo, with its high-tech production quirks, percussive drive, and hip-hop edge. But these days, Africa Kabisa ("Africa Absolutely" in Swahili) pays tribute to as many permutations of African pop music as possible. Goldrosen (who since last year has shared hosting duties with Yves Bernard Malette) also interviews African artists, and occasionally she hosts discussions of topics that affect the African community, like the recent changes in immigration law. It’s all part of her mission to satisfy a growing audience of African expatriates and students, Haitians, and anybody else who loves the most grooving music on the planet. "It’s always a challenge, because it’s a two-hour radio show, and I’m trying to present some classics of the genre, nostalgia pieces from the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s — nostalgia is rapidly getting closer! — and I’m also obsessed with tracking down the latest things that have come out, even if they’re not dance-oriented. And of course I take requests from the audience."

That audience has created its own hits on the program, such as the recent "Premier Gaouo," which Magic System perform in the trendy mapouka style from the Ivory Coast. Awilo Longomba is an audience favorite, especially for his 1998 song "Coupé Bibamba," which celebrates the tattered, cut-off-pants look of impoverished African youth. The Congolese singer won a Kora Award (held annually in South Africa, the Koras are sort of the Afropop Grammys), and he wore Versace when he received his prize. Such are the ironies of Congolese pop. Goldrosen is thrilled to have Awilo play Africa Kabisa’s 10-year bash, in part because the show will buck an unfortunate recent trend whereby cash-strapped Congolese singers perform in the US with pre-recorded backing tracks, but also because he’s one of the most creative and appealing new Congolese acts — as Goldrosen says, "I don’t think anybody could listen to ‘Coupé Bibamba’ without wanting to dance."

Africa Kabisa’s themesong is the Congolese rumba classic "Africa Mokili Mobimba," which means "Africa Everywhere." At the same time, Goldrosen always keeps her focus on the Boston community, the folks who keep coming back to one of the city’s few dependable sources of African music.

Awilo Longomba and his band will play the Greek American House, 288 Green Street in Central Square, this Friday, November 8. Doors open at 8 p.m.; the show starts at 9:30. Call (617) 417-4666 or (617) 851-3134.