Davido, D’banj, Yemi Alade to perform at Youtube 2022 Africa Day Concert

YouTube has announced a lineup of artists hailing from five countries, who will be performing at this year’s Africa Day Concert. Like previous editions, the Africa Day Concert which is in its third year will be hosted by superstar Idris Elba.

The annual Youtube Africa Day concert is a musical homage to Africa, showcasing the vibrant African music stars who are making headlines across the world. The concert seeks to bring Africans, the Diaspora, and people from across the world together to celebrate a continent that is home to more than 1.5 billion people and is spawning new ways of artistic expression.

This year’s event is in partnership with Idris Elba. The international artist will return for the third year in a row as part of the Africa Month lineup. The concert will include an in-person event in Nigeria that will be live-streamed on YouTube.

This year’s concert will feature artists from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, South Africa and Congo who are set to perform and it will be streamed exclusively on YouTube tomorrow, 25th of May, 2022 by 19:00 CAT (18:00 WAT).

The Africa Day Concert promises show-stopping performances from talented African music stars. According to Alex Okosi, Managing Director, Emerging Markets, YouTube EMEA:

“YouTube as a platform has been 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”.

The highly anticipated concert will showcase musical performances that will be streamed to a global audience. From Nigeria, talented music artists, D’banj, Davido, CKay, Yemi Alade, Reekado Banks and Mayorkun will be performing at the virtual concert this year.

Also performing from the West African region is popular Sierra Leonean recording and performing artist, Drizilik.

Also set to perform at the Africa Day Concert are singer-songwriter and poet, Busiswa Gqulu, and singer and dancer, Kamo Mpela; both from South Africa. They are known for hit songs, SBWL and Nkulunkulu respectively. Tanzanian singer, songwriter and WCB (Wasafi Classic Baby) artist, Zuchu will be performing her hit songs at the concert while Congolese singer-songwriter, Innoss’B, the Naomi Campbell crooner rounds out the lineup of artists performing this year at the Africa Day Concert.

The concert is aimed at commemorating the foundation of the Organisation of Africa Unity on the 25th of May 1963 by using music as a platform to showcase African culture. The event is part of a series of events Youtube announced to celebrate Africa month throughout the month of May.

According to the content company, the events are intended to reaffirm YouTube’s commitment to growing Africa’s creator ecosystem and to spotlight and celebrate the artists and creatives who are driving the growth of Afrobeats and Africa’s music industry.

YouTube’s longstanding commitment to the creator industry in Africa is evident in initiatives such as the #YouTubeBlackVoices Funds and the YouTube Shorts Fund, a $100 million fund designed to reward creators who make creative and unique Shorts for their contributions.

Earlier this year, 26 creators from Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa were among 135 creators from around the world who participated in the 2022 edition of  #YouTubeBlack voices creator class. The creators receive seed funding alongside dedicated support to help them develop their channels and thrive on the YouTube platform. 

The artists confirmed to perform at the Africa Day Concert 2022 are (in alphabetical order):

1. Busiswa (South Africa)
2. Ckay (Nigeria)
3. Davido (Nigeria)
4. Dbanj (Nigeria)
5. Drizilik (Sierra Leone)
6. Innoss’B (Congo)
7. Kamo Mpela (South Africa)
8. Mayorkun (Nigeria)
9. Reekado Banks (Nigeria)
10. Yemi Alade (Nigeria)
11. Zuchu (Tanzania)

You can join the live stream here.