Un Tourism Reaffirms Commitment To Africa’s Growth At Rumba Route For Peace Festival

Thursday, July 31, 2025

The “Rumba Route for Peace” Festival, that took spot from 16 to 18 July 2025, nether nan High Patronage of His Excellency nan President of nan Republic, Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, was so a landmark successful nan promotion of bid done taste expression. The occasion, successful Kinshasa, was a gathering of minds from astir nan world — leaders, artists and institutions ­— that stock a religion successful music’s powerfulness to effect born-again truths. This show of hit and civilization echoed nan UN Tourism calls for civilization to service arsenic a span to stimulate relationship and knowing betwixt nations.

A Historic Inauguration: Government and Industry Leaders Unite

The Festival opened pinch grandeur arsenic President Tshisekedi officially inaugurated nan event, delivering a reside that highlighted nan value of civilization and tourism successful nan improvement of Africa and beyond. This was followed by keynote speeches from nan Honorable Didier M’Pambia Musanga, Minister of Tourism, and nan Honorable Yolande Elebe Ma Ndembo, Minister of Culture, Arts, and Heritage. Their remarks were a testament to nan Congolese government’s committedness to integrating civilization and tourism arsenic cardinal pillars successful their nationalist improvement strategy.

UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili besides addressed nan audience, underlining nan value of taste tourism and its imaginable for promoting peace, sustainability, and economical growth. The Festival was further supported by world euphony manufacture giants, including Sony Music Entertainment and Spotify, and respected organizations specified arsenic UNESCO, nan African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), and Sound Diplomacy, each joining forces to research nan intersection of culture, technology, and development.

The Role of Music successful Promoting Peace and Sustainable Development

The Festival’s panels provided heavy penetration into nan multifaceted domiciled of euphony tourism successful shaping sustainable development, peacebuilding, and taste preservation. Four high-level sessions explored really euphony tin span divides, foster inclusivity, and heighten economies done tourism. These discussions tackled a wide scope of topics, from safeguarding nan intelligence spot authorities of artists to leveraging nan powerfulness of integer platforms to amplify African euphony and taste heritage.

The convention titled “Transatlantic Rhythms for Peace” focused connected nan imaginable of euphony to link African and world audiences, promoting speech and communal understanding. Meanwhile, “From Vinyl to Viral” explored really integer platforms are revolutionizing nan world euphony industry, enabling artists to scope world audiences and grow nan taste effect of their work.

The “Fair Play” Masterclass, led by ARIPO, was different highlight, offering 100 artists and imaginative entrepreneurs valuable knowledge and applicable devices connected really to build fairer, much sustainable euphony economies. By focusing connected copyright and intelligence spot rights, nan Masterclass sought to empower African musicians and artists, ensuring they person due nickname and compensation for their imaginative contributions.

Connecting pinch Heritage: A Celebration of African Music and Dance

Music was not conscionable discussed but besides celebrated successful its astir vibrant form, pinch unrecorded performances from artists crossed Africa. Performers from Angola, Kenya, South Africa, and Zimbabwe captivated nan assemblage pinch move shows that reflected nan diverseness and richness of African philharmonic traditions. These performances emphasized nan festival’s committedness to celebrating African civilization while highlighting nan continent’s important publication to world music.

One of nan festival’s astir unsocial features was nan immersive rumba initiation, which invited participants to research nan Congolese rumba, 1 of nan UNESCO-recognized taste heritages of humanity. This hands-on acquisition mixed music, dance, and cuisine, offering attendees a deeper relationship pinch Congolese civilization and nan rhythms that person shaped nan country’s identity.

Youth Empowerment and Education: UN Tourism’s Commitment to nan Future

The show besides marked an important measurement successful empowering nan adjacent procreation of tourism professionals successful Africa. UN Tourism reaffirmed its committedness to a sustainable early by awarding 100 scholarships for Destination Marketing done nan UN Tourism Academy. This inaugural intends to nurture young African talent and supply them pinch nan basal skills to lead nan continent’s tourism assemblage toward a much inclusive and sustainable future.

In summation to nan scholarships, President Tshisekedi hosted an assemblage pinch UN Tourism leaders, wherever discussions centered astir nan value of leveraging taste tourism arsenic a strategical instrumentality for nationalist development. The President expressed his afloat support for initiatives that beforehand tourism and civilization arsenic captious drivers of economical growth, peculiarly for younker empowerment and societal cohesion.

A Vision for nan Future: A Stronger, Unified Africa Through Cultural Tourism

The “Rumba Route for Peace” Festival concluded pinch a shared consciousness of intent and optimism for nan future. By combining nan transformative powerfulness of euphony pinch a strategical attraction connected sustainable tourism and younker education, nan Festival showcased really taste initiatives could lend to peacebuilding, economical growth, and societal improvement crossed Africa. This arena underscored nan important domiciled of collaboration betwixt government, backstage sector, and world organizations successful advancing nan taste and tourism sectors, while aligning pinch nan UNWTO’s “Agenda for Africa: Tourism for Inclusive Growth.”

While our world finds itself confronted pinch colossal challenges, nan “Rumba Route to Peace” Festival proved that culture, tourism and euphony tin enactment arsenic a driver of alteration – 1 that brings nations together, supports peace, and contributes to nan building of a much inclusive world. By promoting these values, nan Festival has besides contributed towards creating a bequest that will power and animate early taste and tourism endeavours crossed Africa arsenic they floor plan a people towards prosperity and unity.