Tanzanian music superstar Diamond Platnumz and Nigerian duo Davido and Tiwa Savage will be leading a star-studded performance at the inaugural Giants of Africa Youth Basketball Festival that will take place in Kigali from August 13-19. This was confirmed by Toronto Raptors President and Giants of Africa co-founder Masai Ujiri on Thursday, June 15. Giants of Africa is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of African youth through sports. The weeklong event will bring together more than 250 youth from 16 countries in celebration of Giants of Africa's 20th anniversary. The Giants of Africa Festival represents a momentous milestone for our organisation – we will celebrate 20 years of empowering youth and we will honor the incredible communities that have welcomed us. Through this festival, we aim to inspire and encourage youth, while acknowledging their immense potential and the collective effort to create positive change, said Ujiri. Commenting to the performance lineup, Ujiri said, We are honored to have artistes including Davido, Tiwa Savage, Diamond Platnumz and more join us for the opening ceremony celebration and closing concert, as we believe their performances will further ignite the spirit of the festival and uplift the aspirations of the local youth in attendance. The New Times understands that African music superstar Burna Boy will also perform, should the talks with his management materialize. It would be the second time for the Nigerian will be performing in Kigali after another sold out show in 2019. With key themes including basketball, education, culture, and entertainment, the festival strives to unite and celebrate the next generation of leaders across Africa. Youth campers will represent Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Somalia, Uganda, Botswana, Ghana, South Sudan, Morocco, Cameroon and Mali. Three events set to take place at BK Arena will be open for the public to attend. They include the opening ceremony celebration on August 13, and closing concert August 19, a championship game, one for girls and another for boys, as well as the All-Star Game on August 18. The opening ceremony celebration will kick off the week with an electrifying concert from Diamond Platnumz. Hosted by award-winning sportscaster Carol Tshabalala, the celebration will also feature captivating sounds from Rwandan musician, songwriter and founder of Gakondo music group Masamba Intore, accompanied by a performance choreographed by Sherrie Silver, an MTV Award-winning choreographer and United Nation's IFAD Advocate for Rural Youth. Meanwhile, the closing concert, presented by Spotify, will feature an incredible lineup of internationally acclaimed duo Davido and Tiwa Savage. They will be joined by Rwanda’s very own Bruce Melodie and Tyla, a rising star selected as one of Spotify’s emerging artists as part of their RADAR program. Their performances promise to create an electrifying atmosphere and leave a lasting impression on the Festival attendees. International Youth Day Forum In a related development, the festival will on August 12, host an International Youth Day Forum, sponsored by Dani Reiss in partnership with the Rwandan Ministry of Youth and Imbuto Foundation. It will bring together 2, 000 Rwandan youths along with the campers participating in the festival to hear from esteemed guest speakers, including Lt. Gen (Ret'd) Romeo Dallaire, Founder of the Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security and UN Force Commander during the Genocide against the Tutsi, and Ishmael Beah, international best-selling author, advocate for children in armed conflict, advisor to the Dallaire Institute, and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
