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Accra will this year join Kigali, Rwanda, to host the 2024 Move Afrika: A Global Citizen Experience tour that seeks to change the face of live entertainment in Africa and increase investment in local creative arts economies.
Presidents Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana and Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Global Citizen and creative imprint pgLang jointly announced the addition of Accra for Move Africa, today at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Move Afrika is a large-scale effort to pioneer an international musk touring circuit across Africa, driving economic investment, job creation and supporting entrepreneurship opportunities in each host country, with pgLang serving as the Move Afrika tour’s curator.
A statement by Global Citizen after the joint announcement noted that the announcement follows last month’s inaugural Move Afrika in Rwanda, which employed more than 1000 Rwandans, and engaged 75 percent 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.
“Global Citizen is honoured to return to Ghana this year with Move Afrika: Ghana, following the unforgettable Global Citizen Festival: Accra, which took place in 2022.
The Ghanaian government’s post-event analysis found the festival’s social and economic impact was vast: more than 515 million was injected into the economy from activity such as production spending, hotels, transport, advertising and security; over 5000 people travelled to Ghana for the festival; more than 1000 Ghanaians were employed as part of the event; hotel occupancy increased to 75 percent; and over 2 million actions were taken by global citizens as part of advocacy efforts to End Extreme poverty NOW. 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.
“The first Move Afrika event, held in Kigali in December 2023, signalled the launch of an annual, multi-country tour, changing the face of live entertainment in Africa and investing in local economies, skill training and youth entrepreneurship along the way. Each year, additional countries will be added to the Move Afrika tour schedule, which aims to expand to three countries in 2024, and five countries by 2025. Producing a world-class experience for fans and artists alike, Move Afrika will set a new gold-standard for entertainment touring across the continent. Over time, these events will increase demand from international and regional artists to tour the region, and build local capacity, create jobs and scale the live entertainment sector within host cities” the statement said.
“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 Akufo-Addo, is quoted as saying.
For his part, President Paul Kagame congratulated Ghana for becoming a host of Move Africa, stressing the high socio-economic impact and benefits of the event for the continent.
“Africa has the talent. More often than not, what we 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,” he said.
According to Kweku Mandela, Chief Vision Officer of Global Citizen, the 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.”
“We visited Accra for the first time in 2022 and really connected with the people and the culture. Accra will always be a special place for us and we are excited to work with Move Afrika and expand our efforts to Ghana,” said pgLang.
Move Afrika Ghana builds on Global Citizen’s previous campaigns and events across the African continent that include: Move Afrika: Rwanda held at the BK Arena in 2023; Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100, which brought Beyonce, Jay-Z, Ed Sheeran, Usher, Eddie Vedder and Chris Martin of Coldplay to Johannesburg, South Africa in 2018; Global Citizen Live: Lagos that featured Davido, Femi Kuti, and Tiwa Savage at Fela Kuti’s New Afrika Shrine in 2021; and Global Citizen Festival: Accra, which brought Usher, SZA, Stormzy, and TEMS to the Black Star Square in 2022.
According to the organisers, further details of this year’s Move Afrika tour, including event dates and line ups, will be announced in the coming months.
