Celebrated Nigerian artiste Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe, known professionally as Ayra Starr, and Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard are the latest stars added to the star-studded list of celebrities expected to grace the Giants of Africa festival 2025 which will take place in the Rwandan capital from July 27 to August 2. Founded in Canada, the festival strives to enrich the lives of African youth through sports. The initiative focuses on using basketball as a tool to empower and inspire young people across the continent. Known for attracting world’s top celebrities in the sports and creative spaces, the festival celebrates African youth through a blend of basketball, education, and cultural expression, aiming to unite and motivate the next generation of leaders on and off the court. Kigali first hosted Giant of Africa Festival in 2023 where the likes of Tanzania’s Diamond Platnumz, Nigeria’s Tiwa Savage and Davido as well as South African star Tyla convened in the Rwandan capital in 2023 for the festival’s 20th year anniversary. ALSO READ: Which basketball events will be hosted in Rwanda this year? This time round, Ayra Starr, who is signed to Africa’s top music record label Mavin Records, became the latest addition to the weeklong festival lineup of performers which also includes countrymen Kizz Daniel and Timaya as well as South African Amapiano sensation DJ Uncle Waffles. According to a communique from Giants of Africa released on Tuesday, July 15, two time NBA finals MVP Kawhi Leonard will also be present at the celebration in the Rwandan capital. ALSO READ: PICTORIAL: How Giants of Africa Festival vibrated Kigali Who is Ayra Starr? Real name Sarah Oyinkansola Aderibigbe, Ayra Starr is a Beninese-born Nigerian singer. She began a fashion career at the age of 16 with Quove Model Management before deciding to pursue a career in music. After covering several songs by popular artistes on Instagram, she posted her first original song on her page in December 2019. This brought her to the attention of record executive Don Jazzy, who signed her to his record label Mavin Records. ALSO READ: How the Giants of Africa opening ceremony unfolded In early 2021, Ayra Starr achieved mainstream recognition with her eponymous debut extended play and its hit track Away, which spent two consecutive weeks at number four on Nigeria's TurnTable Top 50 chart; the song also peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Top Thriller Global chart, paving the way for the release of her first full-length mixtape, ‘19 & Dangerous’. Categorized mainly as Afropop and R&B, the mixtape received favorable critical reception and spawned two top forty hits in Nigeria. The lead single Bloody Samaritan peaked atop the Top 50 chart, becoming the first solo song by a female artiste to reach the number-one position. Starr debuted on Pandora Predictions chart, and on August 28, 2021, was ranked number three on Billboard's Next Big Sound.
