In light of afrobeat artist Burna Boy making history today as the first Nigerian to headline and sell out Madison Square Garden, Twitter has unveiled the #AfricaToTheWorld hashmoji to spotlight African influencers and voices who impact their community.
Like Burna, Twitter is highlighting Africans who are their community’s “firsts” and how they’ve made a mark in the diaspora. Users can share their work along with the hashtag. The hashmoji—which is an emoji made by the platform that appears after writing out a hashtag—is activated when users type out #AfricaToTheWorld and a yellow globe emoji follows right after.
“This campaign represents a convening of great talents from Africa and the Diaspora with a common desire to champion conversations and moments that center the importance of #AfricaToTheWorld. It is our hope to leverage this unique, once in a lifetime first from Burna Boy to celebrate other powerful African voices in a truly meaningful way,” said Twitter global culture and community senior manager Bukky Ojeifo.
Since Burna’s audience dubbed today as “Burna Day” because of the artist’s historical significant to Africans around the world, Twitter revived the #AfricaToTheWorld hashtag, as it does annually, to expose a larger picture of Africa beyond Burna Boy. The hashtag is also part of Twitter’s larger initiative, #TwitterVoices, that turns up the volume on conversations its users find important in different communities.
There will also be a series of moderator-hosted Spaces ahead of tonight’s concert to give the stage to African trailblazers to share their stories and influence.
For Burna’s One Night in Space concert tonight, Twitter is hosting a #TweetSuite experience at Madison Square Garden and inviting 18 African influencers chosen by the platform to see the concert live to incentivize their work for their community.
