Ghana?s Kojo Antwi is playing at the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany! The fascinating news has come from the organisers of the African Festival begun almost two decades ago in Germany.

?For 18 years now, the Africa Festival has been inviting artistes from all over Africa to celebrate a unifying festival,? said the organisers.

?We are especially happy that five African teams are represented at the World Cup this year and we cordially welcome the teams of Ghana, Angola, Togo, Tunisia and Cote d?Ivoire,? the organisers said.

The Ghana team, in particular, is to benefit from a concert dubbed ?Akwaaba?Welcome to Wuerzburg.? Besides that, huge concerts showcasing the music of all the African nations represented at the World Cup and more Kojo Antwi, who has been described as ?the hottest singer from Ghana? in the festival brochure is scheduled to make his first appearance on Saturday, May 27 at Wuerzburg.

The African Festival organisers have promised patrons: ?Kojo wins all hearts with the catchy tunes of his Afro Pop. He mixes highlife, soukous and Caribbean Lovers Rock and enriches this musical cocktail with African-American Rhythm and Blues.?

Kojo himself sees his invitation to perform at the World Cup as ?a good opportunity and privilege. This is the first time that Ghana has qualified for the World Cup and our players need all the motivation they can get?, he said.

?I see this concert as our contribution to the cause and I hope it will have an impact on our players and also sell our music to the world.?

Kojo Antwi?s association with football dates back to his youthful days when he captained an area-boys team at Darkuman called Young Kotoko.

?We played against other teams in the area and we were quite successful,? Kojo said. When Young Kotoko folded up, another team ? Englebert ? was formed and once again Kojo Antwi was a key player.

Undoubtedly, at the Wuerzburg concert the list of songs from Kojo?s repertoire will be some from his latest album, Tattoo. Four strengths have been identified with the Tattoo album ? fantastic song structure, sweet instrumentation, clear and relevant messages, strong voice delivery and a bias towards art music.

Other big names from Africa on world music circles who will also be performing at the World Cup are Angelique Kidjo (Benin), Lulendo (Angola), King Mensah (Togo) and Les Boukakes (Tunisia). Mama Africa, Miriam Makeba may provide the icing on the cake with her final stage
performance.