Idris Elba has been announced as host for this year’s edition of the Africa Day Concert, which will be broadcast live to a global audience on YouTube. The news comes on the heels of YouTube’s announcement of a stellar lineup of activities commemorating this month’s African Month celebrations.
Slated for May 25 in Lagos, Nigeria, the concert will feature performances from industrious musical artistes across the continent. The concert aims to use music to showcase African culture and will shine a light on the leaps in innovation being made by Africans, those who are redefining the narrative of a continent and the exchange of music, creativity, and cultural ideas that are taking the world by storm.
Aside from the concert, YouTube has outlined a series of events that will spearhead this year’s celebrations. The events aim to reaffirm YouTube’s commitment to growing Africa’s creator ecosystem, as well as to highlight and celebrate the artists and creatives who are driving the growth of Afrobeats and Africa’s music industry.
As part of the series, aspiring songwriters, producers, and content creators from Sub-Saharan Africa will receive virtual and in-person training and workshops to help them improve their skills and scale and grow their channels. These include a Creator 360 virtual workshop where content creators can collaborate and share skills, as well as in-person Creator Day workshops led by industry experts to help ambitious young creators learn the skills they need to thrive on YouTube.
According to the announcement, YouTube will also offer workshops through its Future Insiders Program to empower aspiring producers and songwriters with hands-on training taught by seasoned producers such as Sarz and Musa Keys.