In early Febuary 2007 Baaba Maal travelled to Ethiopia to perform at a Gala dinner held by the African Union, together with the governments of South Africa and Ethiopia, to launch the International Year of African Football following the opening Ceremony of the 8th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa.

The Gala was attended by the African heads of state who are all said to have greatly enjoyed Baaba's performance, except Colonel Gaddafi who kindly requested that the volume be turned down.

It's a good thing Colonel Gaddafi was not in attendance three days later when Baaba Maal performed at the Taste of Addis-Africa show. The high energy show went down a storm as Baaba took the stage and performed at the Glocal Hotel venue on the 2nd February. See footage below.

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The African Union Assembly held in January 2006, Khartoum, Sudan, declared 2007 “International Year of African Football (IYoAF)” (Assembly/AU/Dec.93 (VI)) as proposed by the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. This decision emanated from acknowledging the role played by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), which will celebrate its 50 th Anniversary in 2007, in using sport as an instrument for promotion of unity, solidarity, peace and reconciliation, and its preventive campaigns against scourges, such as HIV/AIDS, affecting the youth of the Continent. OFFICIAL WEBSITE >