International advocacy organization Global Citizen, Kendrick Lamar’s imprint pgLang and H.E. Nana Akufo-Addo, President of Ghana have announced that Accra, Ghana, will host this year’s Move Afrika: A Global Citizen Experience tour.
The announcement was made on Wednesday (Jan. 17) at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland from Global Citizen; pgLang, the creative imprint co-founded by Lamar and Dave Free; Nana Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana; and Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda.
The Move Afrika: Ghana initiative looks to drive economic investment in the Ghanaian entertainment industry, and is part of the wider Move Afrika campaign, which aims to establish an international music touring circuit across Africa. Musical talent at the upcoming 2024 event in Accra, Ghana, has not been announced, but Global Citizen previously brought Usher, SZA, Stormzy and TEMS to a 2022 concert in Accra as part of a different campaign.
“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,” said President Akufo-Addo. “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.”
“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,” pgLang said in a joint statement.
“Congratulations to my brother and friend, President Nana Akufo-Addo, for your partnership with Move Afrika,” offered President Kagame. “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.”
“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,” said Kweku Mandela, Global Citizen’s chief vision officer, in a statement.
