Ozwald Boateng to appear on BBC World News

BBC World News ‘Rendezvous with Zeinab Badawi’ showcases Africa Series features fashion designer Ozwald Boateng, R&B and hip-hop superstar Akon, & the President of the African Development Bank Group

Africa is drawing the world’s attention like never before. President Obama has just made his second visit and the new Chinese President, Xi Jinping, toured Tanzania, South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo on his first trip abroad. Economic growth is strong in a number of countries and, overall, poverty is declining. Starting 6th July, BBC World News’ Rendezvous with Zeinab Badawi hears from the Africans who are driving success and turning the traditional view of Africa on its head.

For this six part series, which runs throughout July and August, presenter Zeinab Badawi visited the African Development Bank Conference in Marrakesh, Morocco to meet leading African entrepreneurs, musicians, politicians and CEOs to ask the social, cultural, political, and business questions that are pertinent in today’s Africa.

In programme one, Zeinab speaks to Nigerian musician Seun Kuti, youngest son of the legendary Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti; Ethiopian entrepreneur, Sara Menker, CEO of hi-tech agricultural business, Gro Ventures; and veteran South African Cabinet Minister, Trevor Manuel, and asks if there are still opportunities for Africa’s younger generation.

For the third episode, Zeinab meets pioneering fashion designer Ghanaian-Briton Ozwald Boateng OBE; Senegalese-American R&B and hip-hop superstar Akon; and African-American musician and actor Dante Terrell Smith, also known by the stage names Mos Def and Yasiin Bey, to discuss Africa’s cultural success and whether the stars of the African diaspora make a difference to the lives of people in the continent.

Later in the series, Zeinab talks to Olusegun Obasanjo, the former president of Nigeria; Professor Assia Bensalah Alaoui, adviser and ambassador at large to the King of Morocco; and Frannie Leautier, Executive Secretary of the African Capacity Building Foundation, to discuss whether there is a new and growing threat of militancy that is linking all of the African continent and how best to confront the threat of Jihadism.