The international advocacy organization, Global Citizen, and creative imprint pgLang have announced the capital of Rwanda- Kigali, and Ghana- Accra, as the host cities for Move Afrika, 2024.
Move Afrika is a first-of-its-kind international music touring circuit across the African continent. The selection of Ghana is a move that seeks to drive economic investment in the Ghanaian entertainment industry among locally-owned businesses, and young entrepreneurs.
President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, alongside President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos-Switzerland, announced that Accra will join Kigali, as a host city for this year’s Move Afrika, the much-anticipated global citizen experience tour.
“I am excited to announce that later this year, Global Citizen will return to Ghana with Move Afrika: Ghana. Global Citizen is known for leveraging live music events to engage youth while creating social and economic impact. We are delighted to join Rwanda in becoming the next destination for Global Citizen’s multi-year, multi-market pan-African tour and expect continued impact in the years ahead. Today, we celebrate this milestone for Ghana. We look forward to future announcements on this growing cohort of Move Afrika destinations,” President Nana Addo, said.
On his part, Paul Kagame said: “Congratulations to my brother and friend, the President of Ghana for the partnership with Move Afrika. Last month, Rwanda was privileged to host the inaugural Move Afrika concert, in partnership with Global Citizen. Without exaggeration, Kendrick Lamar moved the whole city of Kigali with his performance. We are even happier that he took the time to engage with our local artists. Africa has the talent. More often than not, what they lack is mentorship and support. Global Citizen’s commitment to develop the workforce needed for professional concert tours will leave an important economic legacy for our region.”
Move Afrika is committed to its long-term goal of driving economic investment, job creation, and supporting entrepreneurship opportunities in each host country with creative firm pgLang serving as the Move Afrika tour’s curator.
It would be recalled that last month, the 2024 edition of the entertainment grand event was inaugurated at Move Afrika: Rwanda, in collaboration with the Rwanda Development Board headlined by Grammy Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning artist, Kendrick Lamar.
The event employed more than 1000 Rwandans, and engaged 75 percent of local crew and production staff, with a specific focus on creating opportunities for skill development and international event training. Hailed by many as the most successful live music event ever staged in Rwanda, the show also featured performances by Zuchu, Bruce Melodie, DJ TOXXYK, Sherrie Silver, Ariel Wayz, Kivumbi King, and Bruce The 1st.
The organisers of Global Citizen expressed gratitude over the return to Ghana this year with Move Afrika: Ghana, following the unforgettable Global Citizen Festival: Accra, which took place in 2022.
The government’s post-event analysis in 2022, indicated that the festival’s social and economic impact was vast: more than US$15 million was injected into the economy from activities such as production spending, hotels, transport, advertising, and security. Additionally, over 5000 people traveled to Ghana for the festival, and more than 1000 Ghanaians were employed as part of the event. The hotel occupancy increased to 75 percent, and over two million actions were taken by global citizens as part of advocacy efforts to end extreme poverty.
Hosted by Danai Gurira, over 100 million music fans around the world watched incredible live performances from Usher, SZA, Stormzy, Gyakie, Sarkodie, Stonebwoy, TEMS, and Uncle Waffles.
“We are honored to bring Move Afrika to Ghana. Our partnership with the Ghanaian and Rwandan governments will showcase the best of African creative talent to the world while generating economic investment into the local creative economy, which will have a lasting impact across the continent for years to come,” Kweku Mandela, Chief Vision Officer, Global Citizen.
