Africa Day concert raises awareness for Covid-19

Over 100 artists and celebrities from across Africa and the diaspora came together on Africa Day on 25 May to take part in a two-hour virtual concert aimed at raising awareness about the fight against the pandemic.

Modelled on the Lady Gaga-curated One World: Together at Home concert, the show saw performances from artists including Angelique Kidjo, Wizkid, Salif Keita and Fally Ipupa and was hosted by actor and musician Idris Elba.

Senagalese star Youssou N’Dour also sang a remote duet with Coldplay’s Chris Martin as part of the awareness-raising event.

The show was broadcast online by the World Afro Network (WAN) and on 200 African television channels.

“We must show our resilience and share our commitment as Africans to overcome this and grow stronger from it”

“We face an extraordinary challenge but we cannot afford to be spectators. We must show our resilience and share our commitment as Africans to overcome this and grow stronger from it,” commented supermodel Naomi Campbell as part of the broadcast.

“Use your voice to call our leaders in Africa to use this crisis as a moment to build our solidarity and deal with deep structural issues that affect our nations and their economies.”

More than 115,000 cases of coronavirus have been reported across Africa, with the virus reaching every country on the continent of 1.2 billion people.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that Covid-19 could kill up to 190,000 people across the continent and infect between 29 million and 44m in the first year if containment measures fail.

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