How Black Celebrities Vacation In Africa

From a slew of Hollywood stars making the rounds in Ghana to Idris and Sabrina Elba’s fantasy wedding in Morroco, Africa has officially sparked the interest of the rich and famous. With each passing year, more celebrities are deciding to pay the continent a visit, and Demand Africa assembled a list of stars who have all spent their free time in Africa.  

Idris and Sabrina Elba

Hollywood heartthrob Idris Elba is no stranger to Africa. The British actor was born to a Sierra Leonean father and Ghanaian mother and had long-term stays on the continent in the past to work on Beasts of No Nation in Ghana, then to play Nelson Mandela in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom in South Africa.

His most recent visit was to Tanzania, where he and wife Sabrina Elba toured the country’s famous Serengeti National Park in May.

In April, the pair tied the knot during a three-day celebration at the Ksar Char Bagh hotel, also in Africa (Marrakech, Morrocco).

RELATED: Idris Elba and 4 More of the World’s Most Influential Ghanaians

Barack Obama

President Barack Obama has been to African many times, and he began his trip last year in Kenya (where his father is from) to meet with Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta and to spend time with family.

Shortly after, he traveled to South Africa to give a speech in honor of Nelson Mandela. He then met with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and ended the trip with a visit to speak with 200 leaders under his initiative from the Obama Foundation, “The Leaders: Africa program.”

The speech’s theme highlighted the progression of the African continent.

“Let’s be joyful in our struggle to make that truth manifest here on earth so that in 100 years from now, future generations will look back and say, ‘they kept the march going, that’s why we live under new banners of freedom.”

Naomi Campbell

In a recent CNN interview, supermodel Naomi Campbell said “Africa is very rich in so many ways and has been so untapped for it — most of all for their people and what they can give. So, this is the time.”

Naomi once headed to Senegal, where she visited SEED, an NGO using education to empower the next generation of African leaders. And of course, she couldn’t leave without paying a diplomatic visit to the country’s president, Macky Sall. In December 2018, Naomi visited Ghana and Nigeria for an exclusive British Vogue photo shoot in Accra and to attend a Wizkid concert in Lagos. In the summer of 2019, she also made a trip to Rwanda and took selfies with the region’s beloved gorillas.

“Let’s change the narrative of the great continent of Africa…The #MOTHERLAND #TRUE Paradise,” she said.

Boris Kodjoe and Nicole Ari Parker

Boris Kodjoe and wife Nicole Ari Parker thought it would be an injustice to visit Ghana alone, so they brought along about three dozen of their celebrity friends, including actor Michael Jai White and former CNN anchor Isha Sesay.

Their trip marked ‘The Year of the Return,” a major marketing campaign targeting the Diaspora Market to mark 400 years since the first enslaved African arrived in the United States.

“Hard to explain what it feels like when you spend time in a place where double-consciousness doesn’t exist, the freedom to just be, the peace of mind, and to be closer to your ancestors’ spirit you have ever been,” Kodjoe wrote on Instagram.

He continued: “To connect with your royal heritage and to see the beauty in your culture that can never be denied. To eat the food and dance all night and connect with the people who carry such effortless joy and pride. Ghana I love you. Thank you. I’ll be back.”

Ciara and Russell Wilson

To celebrate their two-year wedding anniversary, R&B singer Ciara and her hubby, Seattle Seahawks star quarterback, Russell Wilson, headed over to South Africa and Botswana for a romantic getaway in nature.

The pair began the trip to the motherland in Madikwe, South Africa where they helped save two rhinoceroses from poachers (they ended up naming the rhinos after their children’s middle names – Zahir and Princess).

Then they headed to Botswana where they walked through a safari with elephants. On Instagram, Ciara posted a touching tribute to Russell of their time there as Stevie Wonder’s “Ribbon in the Sky” played in the background.