What You Need to Know About Africa Day 2020

The 57th anniversary of Africa Day is coming up next week. While the day is celebrated across the continent, it is however observed as an official national holiday in Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea, Namibia, Zambia, Mali, Mauritania, Lesotho and Zimbabwe. Commemorated on May 25th, Africa Day was established after the leaders of the 32 independent African states signed a founding charter in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia back in 1963.

OkayAfrica's Damola Durosomo writes: "The origins of the holiday can be traced back to 1958 when 17 African nations established African Liberation Day, to commemorate their independence from European colonialism. Africa Day came about after 32 independent nations—led by Tanzania's Julius Nyerere, Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah, Guinea's Sékou Touré and Zambia's Kenneth Kaunda—formed the Organization of African Unity (OAU) May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Since then, 21 more nations have joined, and in 2001, the OAU became what is now known as the African Union (AU)."

Each year, Africa Day has a specific theme which sets the tone for any upcoming events, activist movements, celebrations and earnest reflection on the part of all Africans. Last year's theme "Healthy Lifestyle Prolongs Life" focused on highlighting the benefits of a healthy lifestyle while the theme in 2018 was "The Year of Nelson Mandela–Building a Better Africa and a Better World".

This year's theme however, has not been clarified as yet.

Given the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, most celebrations for Africa Day will be virtual owing to social distancing measures and national lockdowns which have been enforced in numerous African countries.

Perhaps one of the biggest events set to take place is the Africa Day Benefit Concert At Home, which will be hosted by Idris Elba. The concert, which will feature artists such as Angelique Kidjo, Burna Boy, AKA and many others, is set to be streamed on MTV Base platforms with the aim of raising funds to help in the continued fight against COVID-19 in Africa. Read more about it here.