YouTube unveils Africa Day concert 2022 line-up

Now in its third edition, the annual event will be hosted by Idris Elba. It seeks to pay homage to talent in Africa, showcasing the vibrant African stars who are making headlines around the globe. The line-up includes Nigerian artists, D’banj, Davido, CKay, Yemi Alade, Reekado Banks and Mayorkun as well as Sierra Leonean musician Drizilik.

The West African artists will be joined by South African singer-songwriter and poet Busiswa Gqulu and singer and dancer Kamo Mphela. Other artists on the line-up comprise Tanzanian singer Zuchu and Congolese musician Innoss’B.

“YouTube as a platform has been a mainline for connecting African artists to people all around the world and the Africa Day Concert is an opportunity to reaffirm YouTube’s support for African artists as they showcase the vibrant sounds and culture that makes Africa truly unique,” YouTube managing director of emerging markets in Europe, Middle East and Africa Alex Okosi said.

The concert will be streamed on YouTube from 7pm (CAT). Interested viewers can set a reminder for the livestream below.

The concert will be a culmination of a series of events throughout May, which saw aspiring songwriters, producers and content creators across sub-Saharan Africa receive support in the form of virtual and in-person training and workshops to improve their skills as well as scale and grow their channels. 

The events form part of efforts reaffirming YouTube’s commitment to Africa’s growing creator ecosystem while spotlighting and celebrating creatives driving the continent’s music industry.

Ealier this month YouTube also announced workshops under its Future Insiders Programme to empower budding producers and songwriters with hands-on training. Music producers such as Sarz and Musa Keys have been confirmed as facilitators.