African stars stage malaria gig

Concert organiser Youssou N'Dour performed at the event

Some 20,000 music fans are attending an international pop concert in Senegal that is raising awareness about malaria in Africa.

The two-day Roll Back Malaria concert in Dakar is meant to raise funds to buy mosquito nets in the fight to defeat one of the continent's biggest killers.

Organised by local star Youssou N'Dour, it features many top African artists such as Baaba Maal and Salif Keita.

Mr N'Dour said it showed Africans were tackling their own problems.

It is the first major gathering of some of Africa's most popular musicians playing an African venue rather than London, Paris or New York.

The stage in Dakar's Iba Mar Diop Stadium has been decoratively draped with mosquito netting. Traditional stilt dancers are dressed as mosquitoes.

'Power'

The event is being recorded for television, radio, cinema and DVD, and is being broadcast in countries around the world.

Both Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade and French President Jacques Chirac have sent messages of support.

"Music is entertainment but also music is power," Mr N'Dour told the BBC.

Angelique Kidjo, a Benin-born performer now based in Europe, said she had cancelled other commitments to be in Dakar.

"Before being a musician, before being any star living abroad, we come from this continent and we care a lot," she said.

More than a million people, mostly children, die of malaria every year, with 90% of cases occurring in sub-Saharan Africa.

Also on the bill are Orchestra Baobab, Rokia Traore, Cheb Khaled, Tiken Jah Fakoly, Joey Starr and Seun Kuti.