“Grammy Award, Pulitzer Prize-winning artist and co-founder of pgLang Kendrick Lamar will headline the event and pgLang will serve as the curator of Move Afrika for the next five years, from 2023 until 2028,” Global Citizen and pgLang said in a joint statement.

“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. 

“Showcasing the best of Africa to the world, these events will drive transformative investments within local communities, engage local artists, vendors, agencies and crews and provide opportunities for on-the-job skill development and training.”

These events are to increase demand from international and regional artists to tour in the region while also building local capacity within host cities across the continent. Move Afrika, in partnership with the Rwanda Development Board and TimesLIVE, will host the event in Kigali for the next five years with another five countries added by 2025.

“I am honoured and humbled to play a role that supports new age global efforts to deal with health inequity, challenge poverty and empower women and girls. The neglect of these predicaments, including global warming, have a detrimental effect on the prospects of the citizens of Africa and this situation cannot be allowed to continue,” said Global Citizen Africa patron Tshepo Mahloele.

“I am happy that the Global Citizen movement has reignited the debate about these critical matters and that is continuing to keep Africa top of mind by having Move Afrika: Rwanda. Across the entire African continent there is huge excitement for driving economic development, tourism and world-class entertainment. We look forward to announcing additional cities for 2024 and 2025 in the coming months.” 

Global Citizen chief vision officer Kweku Mandela added: “Move Afrika is not just a call to action; it’s an invitation to be a part of history and engage in a movement that drives real social and economic change.

“Africa has been the home of music since the beginning, yet we haven’t been able to experience the biggest artists in the world performing here. So we’re embarking on creating a paradigm shift and we’re proud to be doing that with pgLang and Kendrick Lamar.” 

pgLang said this was a unique opportunity to showcase the best African creative talent to the world.

“Our goal with Move Afrika is to inspire local youth and artists to unlock their creativity. We hope to curate an immersive experience that empowers communities and cultures across Africa and around the world for a lifetime,” said pgLang.

TimesLIVE