Beyonce leads South Africa anti-poverty festival for Mandela centenary
US music superstars Beyonce and Jay-Z will lead an A-list line-up to mark 100 years since Nelson Mandela's birth in a Johannesburg festival by the Global Citizen movement to eradicate poverty.
The Dec 2 event, which will be internationally broadcast, will celebrate the late anti-apartheid icon and draw a number of leaders in an attempt to throw a spotlight on efforts to eradicate the world's worst poverty, Global Citizen announced yesterday.
Pop star Beyonce and her hip hop mogul-husband Jay-Z will headline the music at the FNB Stadium alongside several other stars like Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder, hit pop producer Pharrell Williams and R&B chart-topper Usher.
Beyonce performed in South Africa in 2003 at a concert hosted by Mandela to raise awareness on HIV and Aids.
The festival will also feature some of the continent's most popular musicians, including South African hip-hop producer Cassper Nyovest and Nigerian artists Wizkid, D'banj and Femi Kuti, the son of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti.
Global Citizen said it hoped that the run-up to the festival would raise commitments of US$1 billion (S$1.35 billion) to help the world's poorest, with half of the amount aimed at women and girls.
Global Citizen has held festivals since 2012 in New York's Central Park on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly to rally support, especially among young people, in the fight against poverty.
The group has also branched out overseas with seminars and music in India, Germany and elsewhere.
Unlike traditional benefit concerts, Global Citizen distributes tickets for free to supporters who pledge to take actions such as writing their governments to support international development assistance.- AFP
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