'Queen of African Music' will headline Independence Day Celebrations for 17 African Countries

In 2008, Angélique Kidjo visited a UNICEF-supported girls’ education project in Sierra Leone. The singer and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador spoke to a group of teenage girls in a village in Bombali District, northern Sierra Leone. The girls had dropped out of school due to problems related to child marriage and exploitation.

"Your country needs doctors, nurses, teachers, and engineers to take it forward,” Kidjo said at the event covered by Issa Davies. “And if I am here today, it is because I was determined to be educated.”

A year before Angélique visited Sierra Leone, the singer-songwriter and activist was called "Africa's premier diva" by TIME magazine. In 2019, the BBC dubbed Angelique Kidjo “Queen Of African Music” after a performance at the Royal Albert Hall. It doesn't get any bigger than that.

That's why in 2020, she has been billed as the "Daughter of Independence"  to celebrate the 60th independence anniversary of her native Benin and other African countries. The event will take place on March 14, 2020, at Carnegie Hall in New York.

Angélique Kidjo herself was born on July 14, 1960.

"Between January and December 1960, 17 sub-Saharan African countries managed to attain their independence from European colonial powers. The phenomenal year became known as The Year of Africa," wrote Takudzwa Hillary Chiwanza for Africa Exponent. 

Here's a list of all the African countries that gained independence in 1960.


1. Cameroon – January 1
2. Togo – April 27
3. Madagascar – June 26
4. Democratic Republic of Congo – June 30
5. Somalia – July 1
6. Benin – August 1
7. Niger – August 3
8. Burkina Faso – August 5
9. Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) – August 7
10. Chad – August 11
11. Central African Republic – August 13
12. The Republic of the Congo – August 15
13. Gabon – August 17
14. Senegal – August 20; 15. Mali – September 22
16. Nigeria – October 1
17. Mauritania – November 28

Image may contain: one or more people, possible text that says 'CARNEGIE HALL e2 DAUGHTER OF INDEPENDENCE ANGELIQUE KIDJO CELEBRATES 60 YEARS OF AFRICA'S INDEPENDENCE WITH SPECIAL GUESTS MARCH 14TH I 8PM'

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