Ghana's Rex Omar to Share Black Star Experience at Congo's World Music Festival

Ghana's highlife legend and Coordinator of the Black Star Experience Secretariat at the Office of the President, Rex Owusu Marfo (Rex Omar), will represent the country at the second World Music and Tourism Festival in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, next October. The invitation underscores Ghana's growing recognition as a thought leader in leveraging music and cultural heritage for sustainable tourism development across Africa.

The festival, running October 8–10, 2026, convenes government officials, tourism stakeholders, artists, academics and international bodies under the theme "Tourism and Music: Building Bridges Between Peoples." Rex Omar has been invited by the DRC's Tourism Minister, H.E. Didier Mazenga Mukanzu, to participate in the opening panel on October 9, titled "Music, Heritage and Tourism: Turning Living Cultural Heritage into Sustainable Tourism Experiences."

Rex Omar's Dual Role: Artist and Policy Architect

Rex Omar's participation carries particular significance because he straddles two worlds—the creative and the governmental. As a founding member of the celebrated highlife group Nakorex and solo artist behind hits like "Abiba," he spent decades establishing Ghanaian highlife as both a cultural treasure and a bridge to international audiences. That artistic credibility now informs his current work coordinating Ghana's Black Star Experience, a national framework designed to position Ghana's creative and cultural assets as drivers of economic value, national identity and tourism competitiveness.

On the Kinshasa panel, Rex Omar will share space with prominent African cultural figures including Balufu Bakupa Kanyinda (Director General, Central African Cultural and Arts Centre), Prof. Théodore Nganzi Ndoni from the DRC's National Institute of Arts, UNESCO's Carole Kayum Fokoue, and Prof. Bruno Lapika Dimonfu of the University of Kinshasa. The discussion will examine how musical heritage shapes destination identity, attracts tourists, enhances intangible cultural assets, and generates local economic development through cultural tourism.

Why It Matters for Ghana

Ghana's participation in this continental conversation reflects a strategic shift in how the country approaches its cultural economy. Rather than treating music and heritage as purely artistic or entertainment offerings, the Black Star Experience framework treats them as integrated components of a competitive tourism and development strategy. This approach creates tangible benefits: it can generate foreign exchange, create employment in creative industries, strengthen Ghana's international brand, and empower artists and communities as stakeholders in national economic growth.

The DRC festival itself extends beyond performances to address critical issues—destination branding, creative industries employment, youth opportunity, digitalisation, and international investment. By participating, Ghana signals that it is actively shaping continental thinking on how African nations can build sustainable cultural economies in an increasingly competitive global tourism market.

Building an African Model for Cultural Tourism

Rex Omar's journey from the stage to the policy table exemplifies a broader imperative for African countries: cultural assets are only fully realised when artists, traditional custodians, communities, creative entrepreneurs and government work together. Music provides the emotional resonance that makes destinations memorable; festivals, performances, culinary traditions, fashion and heritage sites translate that connection into visitor experiences worth travelling for.

Ghana's Black Star Experience demonstrates that such integration is possible at scale. As other African nations grapple with similar questions—how to monetise cultural heritage responsibly, how to involve local communities, how to compete internationally—Ghana's evolving framework and Rex Omar's articulation of it will contribute valuable perspective to the Kinshasa dialogue.