World leaders to join the star-studded Global Citizen Festival
Image: Larry Busacca/Getty Images
African heads of states and world leaders will attend the much anticipated Mandela 100 Global Citizen Festival on December 2.
The event is organised by Global Citizen and the Motsepe Foundation to celebrate the centenary of the late Nelson Mandela. The festival will be hosted in Johannesburg at the FNB Stadium in Soweto.
In the spirit of calling an end to global poverty, world leaders including Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta will be in attendance. Also among those expected to attend are World Bank leader Dr Jim Kim and the Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, Graca Machel, Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg and Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo will also be among the dignitaries in attendance.
The world leaders will be joining international musicians including Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Usher, Pharrell Williams,Ed Sheeran, WizKid and Chris Martin.
Local acts and celebrities such as Cassper Nyovest, Sho Madjozi, Bonang Matheba and Nomzamo Mbatha will also be a part of the programme.
The event will be hosted by Trevor Noah and Oprah Winfrey is expected to deliver the keynote speech.
Since the start of the campaign four months ago, 3.71m actions have been taken by ordinary people. Those participating in the online and social media Global Citizen actions have been rewarded with free tickets to the concert in a series of draws.