Baaba Maal

Baaba Maal is a world-renowned Senegalese singer and guitarist who has released albums since 1989, in a music career lauded across the world. His unique voice has recently featured on the sound track of the international blockbuster Black Panther, a film that won an Oscar and a Grammy Award for its music score.

Since 2003, he has been committed to various development challenges in Africa, working with different UN family organisations. His Senegalese home means he actively supports a new narrative for the Sahel: a region of opportunities, rich in traditional culture, where a Great Green Wall will power a transformation of the lives of millions of humanity’s most vulnerable people and create new green jobs, harnessing the Sahel’s abundant solar energy and creating a peaceful and prosperous future on land.

My music and songs use many words to describe the beauty of the Sahel – but now the beauty is disappearing and people are moving away from their villages. I want my music to call people to fix things, again. The first step is planting trees.

— Baaba Maal