Elba has numerous plans in motion to advance Africa's industries and infrastructure.
Idris Elba is on the move to take his greatest ambitions to Africa. The British actor plans to invest in the massive continent by developing an “eco-city” and “Zollywood” film studio.
Afrotech reports the 51-year-old actor, whose father hails from Sierra Leone, wants to “house [his] ambitions” in his ancestral homeland. According to Elba, his aspirations can only fit a continent as big and vibrant as Africa. He officially gained citizenship in Sierra Leone during his first visit in 2019.
“America or England cannot house my ambition. Africa can house my ambition, I can create another Disney here [and] I can’t do that in America,” he explained to BBC in an interview.
Moreover, his West African heritage and his mother’s Ghanaian background inspire him to invest in the area. As a “son of the soil,” Elba will use his star power to elevate his native community.
He added, “I’m no stranger to Africa: I’ve been in Africa, made films in Africa, championed Africa. “But Sierra Leone, it’s a very different feeling because it’s my parent’s home. The welcome has been incredible, and I’ve plugged straight into that energy that I think Sierra Leone is rising with. The son of the soil is coming back to fertilize the soil.”
However, Elba’s entrepreneurial endeavors do not stop there, as covered before on BLACK ENTERPRISE. Elba hopes to create an “eco-dynamic city” that will drive tourism into a coastal island off Sierra Leone.
“At some junction, my business partner, Siaka Stevens, the grandson of the former president, said, ‘Look, someone needs to cultivate Sherbro Island for tourism.’ That was seven years ago,” Elba explained to CNN. “Where we are now is that we partnered with the government to figure out a plan of how we can bring in tourism. Well, it started as tourism—now we’re building a smart, eco-dynamic city.”
Shebro Island, according to the news outlet, is surrounded by “pristine” beaches that host native green sea turtles. Elba hopes to run the island off wind power while encouraging an international community to venture into the area.
He continued, “Obviously, this is Sierra Leone: it’s one of the poorest countries in the world, so investment isn’t rushing through the door. So what we needed to do is understand how to package an investment opportunity around this beautiful island without destroying it, being climate-conscious, and being conscious that there is a youth culture across Africa of the average age of about 20 that wants something.”
However, he believes creative industries are critical to advancing the continent.
“The opportunity for Africa is to reframe how not only Africans see themselves via telling stories, but the opportunity is to have the world see Africa in a different way,” the entrepreneur explained. “And that’s where the creative industries can play a pivotal role…I’ve made nine films in Africa, nine or eight films. Each time I’m there, I see the opportunity’s growing, I see the quality of the work growing, and I just want to contribute more.”
With this in mind, Elba also intends to build a film studio in Zanzibar, an archipelago of Tanzania. The actor wants to make “Zollywood” a rival to the other filmmaking hubs globally. According to BBC, he heads a movement to provide infrastructure to bring more production to Africa.
While still in the development stage, Elba continues to push his platform to uncover all of Africa’s potential, from environmental to entertainment.
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