In recent years, several celebrities have taken up citizenships of countries in Africa.
It largely began in 2019 when Ghana launched “The Year of Return”, inviting those with African heritage to come home and invest. One of the most prominent stars to do so was Stevie Wonder in 2024.
Other notable examples have been US singer Ciara, who took Beninese citizenship last year, and Hollywood actor Samuel L Jackson, who acquired a Gabonese passport in 2020.
Guinea itself has a long history of welcoming activists and people from the African diaspora.
In the 1960s, South African singer Miriam Makeba and her husband, US civil rights activist and Black Panther leader Stokely Carmichael, moved to Guinea.
Makeba had been made stateless for her opposition to apartheid and after her marriage to Carmichael, who popularised the slogan “black power”, her US visa was revoked.
She was treated as an honorary Guinean citizen and cultural ambassador, while Carmichael, who took the name Kwame Ture, remained in Guinea even after their divorce, dying there in 1998.
Guinea has experience political turmoil in recent years – and under the junta that seized power in 2021 the country has become less open to dissent.
Coup leader Gen Mamady Doumbouya restricted the media and suppressed protests.
The country has recently returned to civilian rule following elections last month, won by Doumbouya with 87% of the vote.
Unlike other countries in the region that have experienced recent coups, Guinea has maintained relations with Western governments, particularly France.
The country is rich in minerals, including bauxite, iron ore, diamonds, gold and uranium, yet its people remain among the poorest in West Africa.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.bbc.co.uk ’
