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Angélique Kidjo Calls for African Unity to Foster Shared Development Published on 30 September 2026 by Christ-loisele (2 min read)
The Beninese artist has warned against divisions among Africans during an event in South Africa, emphasizing the urgency of collaborating to highlight the continent's cultural wealth. Her remarks are particularly aimed at the youth, whom she sees as carriers of innovation.
Video: Angélique Kidjo - Bando feat. Pharrell Williams and Quavo (Official Music Video) (Angelique Kidjo PLG, YouTube) A Call for Cohesion at an International Event
Angélique Kidjo, a globally renowned Beninese artist, spoke at an event organized by Shopify in South Africa to denounce the persistent divisions among Africans. According to La Nouvelle Tribune , she described the continent as the ‘only one where we fight against each other,’ a sentiment echoed during her visit to Johannesburg for the Joy of Jazz festival (sources: fr.news.yahoo.com , france24.com ). Her intervention, widely reported, stresses the need to move beyond these disputes to focus on shared projects.
Africa has such a vast culture that it even surpasses our own understanding, but now we must act with strategy and focus.
Photo: Angélique Kidjo (Library of Congress Life, CC0) African Youth: The Lever for a Cultural Renaissance
Kidjo highlighted the pivotal role of young Africans, whom she describes as having a ‘thirst for novelty’ (quoted by La Nouvelle Tribune and france24.com ). She urges them to unite and tell a collective story, leveraging the continent’s cultural diversity. Her message draws from her own career, marked by international collaborations with artists like Davido and Burna Boy, as well as her status as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2002.
International Recognition as a Symbol of Hope
Recently honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in August 2026, Angélique Kidjo becomes the first African artist to receive this distinction (confirmed by fr.news.yahoo.com and france24.com ). This accolade strengthens her status as an inspiring figure, capable of rallying people around a unified vision. She speaks of an ‘African culture that is staggering in its richness,’ but underscores the need for common strategies to capitalize on it.
What This Changes Here
For businesses and administrations in Benin and West Africa, this call could inspire initiatives to strengthen cooperation in cultural and technological sectors. Local startups, often isolated by fragmented markets, could find in this momentum a lever to pool their resources and promote innovative solutions tailored to regional realities. Public institutions, for their part, could use this discourse to encourage cross-cutting cultural policies, fostering exchanges between creators and entrepreneurs across the continent.
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