Le Touquet- France (PANA) -- Ivorian reggae singer Tiken Jah Fakoly has said although Africa was going through a difficult period, he was optimistic about the future based on a new spirit of awakening pervading the continent. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- Senegalese superstar Ismael Lo is in Zambia to perform at a single concert Friday, organised in Lusaka by the French embassy, under its Alliance Française. Full text...

Nouakchott- Mauritania (PANA) -- The second International Nomads Music Festival will cost about 393,000 euros, a whooping 93,000 euros over the budget of the maiden edition in 2004, according to estimates released Tuesday by the organising committee. Full text...

Nouakchott- Mauritania (PANA) -- Senegalese musicians Omar Pene and Baba Maal performed Thursday and Friday in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott. Full text...

Brazzaville- Congo (PANA) -- US jazz singer Ellison McDaniel Arttison Wednesday offered to help African musicians seeking to improve their skills. Full text...

Douala- Cameroon (PANA) -- French Cameroonian singer Yannick Noah, based in France, has lined up musical concerts in Douala and Yaounde in February, organisers said Monday. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- Cape Verdean singer Lura will on Monday perform at the International Market of Disc and Musical Education (MIDEM) festival in Cannes, France organised by the Inter- governmental Francophonie Agency, official sources said here Sunday. Full text...

Luanda- Angola (PANA) -- Ivorian artist and singer, Dobet Gnahoré, is expected to arrive here 24 January at the invitation of the French Alliance, to hold two performances. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- About 21 African production companies are expected to attend the 39th edition of the International Music Market (MIDEM) in Cannes (southern France), aimed at "promoting cultural expressions in French-speaking countries and defending cultural diversity," organisers said here. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- Some of Africa's greatest drummers will join together in a celebration of different beats next week at Marimba House in South Africa's Free State Province. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Benin's second edition of the Hosanna Awards, presented to the country's best gospel musicians, will be held on 25 December at the Cotonou Conference Centre, sources close to the organisers said Thursday. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Cameroonian singer Queen Eteme is expected to return to Dakar in early January for an evening of performances whose proceeds will benefit street children in Senegal. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Togolese musician and artist King Mensah has been nominated for the Kora Awards 2004 edition slated later this month in South Africa, sources close to the singer revealed here Saturday. Full text...

Ouagadougou- Burkina Faso (PANA) -- Gabonese musician Félix Eferol Ebo died Wednesday night in Ouagadougou after a short illiness, official sources told PANA Thursday in the Burkina capital. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Congolese singer Casimir Zoba alias Zao recalled here Monday that he went through very trying times during civil war of the mid-1990s, saying he took refuge in the forest for nine months. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- The first edition of the "Black Music Awards", an event to promote Black music, will be held here 18 December, organisers have said. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- Renowned Malian musician Salif Keita, who has lived abroad for last 20 years, says he is finally back home to join in nation building and share his experience with his compatriots. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- Nigerian musician Femi Kuti and his band kick off a tour of France Thursday in Marseilles, aimed at promoting their last album 'Africa Shrine' and the DVD 'Live at the Shrine'. Full text...

Luanda- Angola (PANA) -- Musician Sabino Henda has won the 2004 edition of the "Top des plus aimés", a contest organised by the Angola National Radio (RNA) to select in concert with its listeners the country's three best musicians. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will 18 October launch a song to promote achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of targets earmarked by the UN to improve the global standard of living by 2015. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Benin music star Angélique Kidjo Wednesday in Paris launched a 10-day playing tour of France to showcase her new album. Full text...

Luanda- Angola (PANA) -- Salif Keita, a leading musician of Malian origin, has urged African singers to defend their original values in order to progress significantly in the musical field on the continent. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- West African drummer Eugene Ansah is running a 4-day drum workshop at Marimba House in Durban. Full text...

Brussels- Belgium (PANA) -- A prominent vocalist from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Papa Wemba, is to appear before the Bobigny court near Paris, France to answer charges of "trafficking in human beings", French judiciary sources told PANA in Brussels Tuesday. Full text...

Tunis- Tunisia (PANA) -- Lebanese singer Ragheb Alama has denied rumours that he had been banned from entering Tunisia after turning down an invitation to hold a special charity concert. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- An enthusiastic crowd of supporters gave a thunderous welcome to Lindiwe Allamu Sunday on her return from Johannesburg, where the Zambian songbird won the M-net's 'Project Fame' reality singing television show. Full text...

Praia- Cape Verde (PANA) -- Cesaria Avora, Cape Verde's leading vocalist, is the patron of the recently created association aimed at teaching music to talented youths in the archipelago, Infomed sources told PANA in Praia that the Cesaria Evora Cultural and Social Development Association (Association Cize) was negotiating with the mayor's office in Sao Vicente island, where she comes from, to acquire a hall where musical instruments will be installed for training purposes. Full text...

Kinshasa- DR Congo (PANA) -- Portuguese investors have expressed willingness to launch a music production firm specialising in the manufacture and distribution of cassettes, CDs and DVDs, official sources have revealed here. Full text...

Tunis- Tunisia (PANA) -- The organisation and management of this year's Carthage festival in Tunisia has come under unprecedented attack from the media, after many shows were cancelled and others postponed, coupled with poor attendance. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- Acclaimed musician Ustad Shujaat Khan who was this year nominated for a Grammy Award for his album 'The Rain' will perform in Cape Ton on Wednesday. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- A number of artistes from Benin are attending a training session on the characteristics of Gospel music, as part of the third edition of the Gospel and Roots Festival convening here. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Cameroonian singer Queen Eteme is in Dakar to promote her debut album, "Soki" ("And if" in Lingala), performing in various nightclubs in the Senegalese capital. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- US-based hip-hop superstar Wyclef Jean has arrived in Nigeria for a series of live performances in three cities of Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. Full text...

Mampong- Ghana (PANA) -- A famous Ghanaian musician Akwasi Ampofo Adjei, 57, has died at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi after a short illness, family sources confirmed Tuesday. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Beninese President Mathieu Kerekou has urged Africans on the continent and those of the Diaspora to "transcend the wrongs of history and rethink" the development of the continent. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- Londoners from all walks of life will celebrate the rhythm and beat of South Africa in their own backyard at the annual Viva South Africa weekend on 21-22 August. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- South African musician Johnny Clegg is performing in Quimper this weekend as part of a tour of several French cities. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- A South African family has launched a legal battle against movie giant Walt Disney seeking royalties for its use of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", one of the most popular songs of all time. Full text...

Kinshasa- DR Congo (PANA) -- The Congolese music star Shungu Wembadio (Papa Wemba) arrived here Tuesday to a hilarious welcome by fans who lined the road from N'djili international airport to the city centre. Full text...

Moroni- Comoros (PANA) -- Comoran vocalist Maalesh, one of the most well known artists outside the Indian Ocean archipelago explained why he and Salim Ali Amir as well as other professionals decided to stage a symbolic march during World Music Day. Full text...

Luanda- Angola (PANA) -- Senegalese musician Ismael Lo is scheduled to perform Wednesday at Luanda's Karl Marx cinema to begin his southern African tour. Full text...

Rabat- Morocco (PANA) -- South African legendary singer Miriam Makeba, one of the greatest divas of African music, has said that South Africans were happy that the Apartheid system has come to an end, even though "it has not completely disappeared. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Jamaican Reggae legend Jimmy Cliff entreated Africans Friday here to not only band together but even do away with a name signifying 'separation'. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- A three-day musical fiesta conceived to play up the positive side of Africa shifts Saturday evening to Demba Diop stadium here, after the opening concert Friday night on Goree Island overlooking the Senegalese capital. Full text...

Yaounde- Cameroon (PANA) -- The chairman of the commission to counter piracy in the Cameroonian music industry has warned that corrupt practices were taking the industry down the drain. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- The "Soweto String Quartet" of South Africa staged what reporters acknowledged as a "very successful" show Monday night at the Forum des Halles. Full text...

Nouakchott- Mauritania (PANA) -- Senegalese music star and king of Yela music, Baba Maal and his Le Dende Lenol band, attracted thousands of fans during a concert at the former Nouakchott Youth Club in the Mauritian capital Thursday night. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- A young South African man, distraught at the news of star singer Brenda Fassie's death, has committed suicide, a local newspaper reported Wednesday. Full text...

Tunis- Tunisia (PANA) -- Prominent Syrian singer Mayada Al Hinawi, who is about to release a new album in Cairo, Egypt has indicated plans to record a song for Tunisia, which she will sing at the Carthage Festival this summer. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- South African top singer Brenda Fassie's health has taken a turn for the worse and her family is now hoping for divine intervention. Full text...