By Mathew Tembo
What can we as Zambian Musicians Learn from Davido’s Presentation of His Performances in Zambia this Past Weekend
Nigerian Afro Beats musician David Adedeji Adeleke (a.k.a. Davido) shared the stage with American hip-hop artist Rick Ross and Antoine Christophe Agbepa Mumba (a.k.a. Koffi Olomide) over the past weekend. The first show was at Ciela Resort on Thursday, 1 May 2026 followed by the second one at Polo Grounds in Lusaka’s showgrounds the following day. At the Ciela show, Davido wore an attire that highlighted colors of the Zambian flag.
At the Polo Grounds show he wore an ichilundu, a traditional Bemba outfit made from the bark of the Ngalati or Mutaba trees. By doing so Davido connected with his Zambian fans at at least a couple of levels. First, at the national level. He did that by wearing a suit that bore the colors of the Zambian flag— Green, red, orange and black. He was simply saying “Zambia, I am Nigerian but most of all I am African. I identify with you as Zambians. Secondly, by wearing Ichilundu on his Saturday’s performance at Polo Grounds in Showgrounds, he connected with his fans at a cultural level. The message here could be read as “my roots are in Africa. Zambia is a part and I am a part.” Pan Africanism.
Jason Stanyek (2004) observes that Pan-Africanism can be seen as an organizational strategy that musicians of African heritage use to create a framework for music making within which disparate, and often contradictory, musical ideas can coexist but also as a platform at which musicians can create links between cultural and social movements.
In the spirit of musical Pan-Africanism, events organizers, African and African diasporic musicians use notions of a common history to instigate communication and construct communities. Musical events bring large numbers of people together to experience a shared cultural performance that represents a shared history. Perhaps, this, Davido achieved at his performances in Zambia this past weekend.