Move Afrika expands to Accra after Kigali debut

The initiative – spearheaded by Global Citizen, American rapper Kendrick Lamar, and his partner at pgLang, Dave Free – aims to establish an international touring circuit across the continent.

The announcement was made on 17 January at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, by Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo. As is with Move Afrika: Rwanda, Move Afrika: Ghana will seek to drive economic investment in the Ghanaian entertainment industry.

“I am excited to announce that later this year, Global Citizen will return to Ghana with Move Afrika: Ghana,” Akufo-Addo said. “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.”

Kendrick Lamar headlined the Kigali leg at BK Arena on 6 December. The date and line-up for the upcoming event in Accra has not been announced yet, but Global Citizen held a Ghana concert in 2022 featuring the likes of Usher, SZA, Stormzy and Tems.

“We visited Accra for the first time in 2022 and really connected with the people and the culture,” pgLang said in a statement. “Accra will always be a special place for us and we are excited to work with Move Afrika and expand our efforts to Ghana.”

“Congratulations to my brother and friend, President Nana Akufo-Addo, for your partnership with Move Afrika,” Rwandan President Pual Kagame said. “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.”

Global Citizen chief vision officer Kweku Mandela said: “We are honoured 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.”

In November, the organisers said Kigali would serve as Move Afrika’s anchor city until 2028, with additional countries to be added to the touring schedule every year as the campaign aims to expand to five countries by 2025.

“Move Afrika is Global Citizen’s latest effort to address the world’s inequities by creating job and entrepreneurship opportunities for the continent’s emerging generations through an annual series of world-class live events,” Global Citizen said.