Youth Week Celebration: Orange Cameroun shuts down Yaounde with mega concert.

The event which marked the first edition of the International Festival of Roots and Beauty Africa, FIRBA, took place at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium. It was attended by hundreds of Yaounde residents.

Big names in the entertainment industry including Petit Pays, Krys M, Mimie and Queen Eteme graced the concert.

The Yaounde Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium was decorated with Orange Cameroun colours while fans at the concert were clothed in Orange t-shirts and face caps, giving the area an ‘Orange Beauty’.

The event was also marked by a fashion show offered by designers from African countries like Mali, Senegal, Tunisia amongst others.

The exquisite fabric and designs of the models kept the crowd ‘wowing’ at its magnificence.

The Pulse and Youth Specialist at Orange Cameroun, Malick Njoume, addressing the excited crowd, highlighted that the telecoms company believes in excellence and innovation, reason why they agreed to sponsor the FIRBA.

“We can succeed in a different environment, if only we have the zeal,” he said.

Malick added that, in order to demonstrate their support to youth projects, they have created a platform dedicated to the youth dubbed ‘Orange Pulse’.

He said Orange Cameroun “has heard the cries of the youth…that is what Orange pulse offers”.

“We know that youth like enjoyment reason why we brought FIRBA, they like free goods reason why we brought ‘Njoh’ and all through the Youth week, the youth had the opportunity to enjoy free data, calls and messages,” added Malick.

He said another advantage the network offers is the availability of “free online courses with certification on the Orange Digital Center by the Orange Cameroon Team”.

“We dedicate the month of February to the youth that is why since the month started, we have been offering young people exceptional promotion offers. These are double bonuses offered, for example when subscribing to the ‘Pulse Loyalty’ offers, which are packages offered to young people below 35,” Malick added.

As additional packages to their younger clientele, Orange throughout the Youth week offered large volumes of data at a lower cost.

He said through the company’s Loyalty program which rewards the loyalty of young people, clients were given the opportunity to accumulate loyalty points following subscription to the ‘Pulse Loyalty’ offers.

Malick further explained that the points acquired could be converted into data.

“We know that today, young people want to be connected, so the goal of these campaigns is to allow young people not only to connect at a lower cost, but also to stay in touch with their loved ones,” Malick told subscribers.

The initiator of the International Festival of Roots and Beauty Africa, Sylvie Dang Makendi taking to the stage, thanked all those who showed up for the event and expressed her wish to see them “enjoy themselves to the maximum and make memories which they will live to remember”.

Emphasising that it was not a speech making event, she announced the theme of the festival: “let us value cultural diversity for a powerful economic dynamic”.

When the concert began, fast rising Cameroonian artists took turns in ascending the stage to thrill their fans who sang to the top of the voices as the artists performed.

While the numerous fans  present were impatiently waiting for the artists to make their debuts, Queen Eteme who is well known for her unique voice and distinctive music genre which encompasses a melange of traditional music from Central Africa, contemporary sounds, gospel and a touch of pop and Jazz, sounded some of the sweet melodies from her album “Soki”.

She was gracefully accompanied on stage by the very talented Maestro Ruben Binam and the KEMIT 7 group. The next artist to grace the stage was David Sitony, otherwise called ‘Le Fils de l’autre’ whose traditional outfit and bikutsi dance moves kept the audience dancing to the rhythms of the sweet melody he performed.

David Sitony who is the son of the late Nkodo Sitony, is following in the footsteps of his late father and has got many of his fans applauding his music genre.

One of the fans during the concert was quoted as saying “when we see David performing, we see his late father in his genre of music and dance steps”.

Yo’Queen, a talented singer, with a honeyed voice and passionate about music since childhood stormed the stage with so much energy leaving the audience wowed.

Despite being young, she was able to perform two of her songs while dancing to the sweet melody from the speakers.

Also present as performing artists were Kissila Kay, Black Cheugah and Tony Pere who all kept the crowd singing at the top of their voices.

Aijo Mamadou with his popular hit titled “levez les doigts”, made the crowd go “crazy”, alongside Cameroon’s Petit Virus who kept everyone dancing to “Mbole dance steps”.

Social media influencer and comedian, Cabrel Nanjip presented one of his singles, and interpreted a few Cameroonian old school songs.

Fans could not stop screaming when their favourites, Mimie, Krys M, and the Legend Petit Pays stormed the stage, fans could be seen struggling to jump from the barricade so they could go closer to the celebrities while they were singing on stage. It took the meticulousness and quick intervention of the Orange Team security to prevent the excited crowd from crossing over.

The concert which ended in the early hours of Friday morning, left fans commenting and appreciating the Orange Team for putting together such an amazing mega concert for the youth during the celebration of the youth week.