Headlining the International Festival of African Nights, Nigerian pop star Yemi Alade has had her entry visa refused by Immigration Canada, causing the cancellation of the concert she was to offer at the end of this edition of the festival on the main stage of the outdoor site this Sunday. The world-renowned artist will be replaced at short notice by Sampa the Great, a young Australian rapper from Zambia.
“For reasons beyond our control, it is not Yemi Alade who will close the festival but Sampa the Great, another equally brilliant star of African youth who is shaking the planet with his music and his rhythms. with multiple influences”, communicated the direction of the festival at the end of the day yesterday.
At To have to, director and co-founder of the festival Suzanne Rousseau lamented the process of applying for and obtaining visitor visas which, she believes, have been complicated “for at least five years”. She learned about the refusal of the visa application for Yemi Alade and the members of her orchestra about ten days ago; a second request remained unanswered, despite the intervention of members of the office of the federal deputy for Outremont, Rachel Bendayan. According to Suzanne Rousseau, the reasons for the refusal are “financial. They feared that she wanted to stay in Canada”. In recent weeks, Yemi Alade, appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme, has traveled to perform concerts and record new songs in Britain, France and Belgium.
The organization of the festival is not the only one to be unhappy with the attitude of Immigration Canada. The Montreal International Jazz Festival also had to adjust its poster due to work visas that were refused or not delivered on time. Last June, 250 international organizations contacted Immigration Minister Sean Fraser to ask him that his department do everything possible to ensure that all participants can take part in the 24th International AIDS Conference that Montreal will host from July 29 to August 2nd.
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