Tickets for Jay Z’s October 6 concert in Accra go on sale this week. They will sell at 600,000 cedis (ordinary) and one million cedis (for VIP seating).

The concert, to be staged at the International Conference Centre, is billed to be one of the biggest ever in Ghana. Jay Z arrives in Accra on October 4 on his private jet with girlfriend, Beyonce Knowles. He will also be accompanied by an entourage of about 30.

Jay Z’s concert in Accra forms part of a worldwide tour (supported by the United Nations and the music channel, MTV) to raise awareness about global water supply problems. In Africa, he will also perform in South Africa and Tanzania.

Charterhouse, which is organizing the show, says Jay Z will use the tour, which he calls ‘the African pilgrimage’ to learn as much as possible about the continent. He will also look into the possibility of collaborating with some local artistes. “Based on discussions Charterhouse had with his record label [Def Jam records], he intends to unearth some talents whiles in Ghana,” says Chris Attoh, events manager at Charterhouse. “What we found most exciting is that he requested to be furnished with some of the hottest hiplife songs in the country and he intends to remix them to create something awesome during his concert here.”

Meanwhile, Charterhouse is partnering with the mobile content provider, Mobistar, to run a competition which will make it possible for some 300 people to watch the Jay Z concert for free and get some photo opportunities with the super star. Phone subscribers will be required to text ‘JAY Z’ to the short codes to be announced soon. The top ten ‘texters’ will win VIP tickets and get the chance to take pictures with the legend.