Africa is a continent rich in music, art and culture. African music has survived different forms of transformation in the world music industry. There have been various music genres like jazz, pop music, blues, rock and roll, reggae, ragga, R&B, Indian and Arabic songs that have impacted traditional African music. Now there is highlife music that has a lot of traditional elements. It has given birth to a new genre of music called hip-life and hip-hop, which is heavily influenced by western ragga music. The influence is also seen in the use of Western musical instruments such as guitars, pianos, saxophones, cymbals, and others. An organized synergy of traditional instruments and foreign musical instruments results in interesting rhythmic instruments that, combined with morally educational lyrics, would produce great music that morally educates and entertains listeners. The traditional music of Africa serves as a vehicle to showcase the intangible cultural heritage of Africans. African music should be a powerful tool to promote African peace and development. This has been the long-time dream of Aswan Music Festival Chairman Yasser Mofaddel.

The Aswan festival aims to bring together different types and rhythms of the various traditional songs, cultures and arts from different countries in Africa. This would be a tool to celebrate African unity, while fostering cultural hybridity among the various African states. Interestingly, the festival would showcase the rich artistic cultural heritage of Egypt, the earliest center of civilization on the African continent. It would open the doors to tourist exchanges between African countries, improving trade relations that would boost Africa’s development.

Furthermore, the Aswan festival would pave the way for promoting, preserving and disseminating traditional African music genres that encapsulate Africa’s rich cultural heritage. Celebrating Africa through music is a great way to preserve the rich African values ​​of love, peace, togetherness and unity that intelligent African ancestors constantly fought for. Promoting the organization of this music festival annually would be a solemn occasion for both older and younger generations in Africa to remember the African virtue that we are one people, a powerful force to end wars, misery and hatred. that tears the great fabric. of unity among the African peoples.

It is imperative that the ministries of culture, art and heritage, as well as tourism of the various African countries, support Yasser Mofaddel’s brilliant idea of ​​uniting Africa through music. They can offer such assistance in the form of financing, publicity and marketing for the successful organization of the event from December 9 to 15, 2020. This music festival would be a wonderful platform to revive African peace resolutions and the efforts spearheaded by the Egyptian Gamal Abdel. Nasser, the Kenyan Wangari Maathai, the Nigerian Chinua Achebe, the Ghanaians Kwame Nkrumah and Kofi Annan, the South Africans Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu, the South Sudanese John Garang De Mabior, the Tanzanian Julius Kambarage Nyerere, the Liberian Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the Rwandan Paul Kagame and many other African heroes of peace.