They Often Cry Outreach (TOCO) Foundation under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture and the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) has launch African-Diaspora youth festival to help the youth gain exposure.

The event dubbed, ‘Hands Across Africa Festival,’ is conceptualised as a cross-continent initiative with the objective of leveraging the platform of reggae music to extend support to people on the downside of social and development issues.

The initiative with Africa Festival and Expo and Youth Tournament will take place in the months of July and end in September.

Launching it in Accra, Mr Akwasi Agyemang, Chief Executive Officer, GTA said, the event would not only give exposure to the teeming youth but also sell Ghana’s tourism and culture to the continent and beyond.

For him, the festival would drive traffic from neighbouring countries to Ghana’s tourism value chain sector as the country would host the maiden edition on the continent adding that the initiative aligns with the ‘Give back Ghana’ pillar of Beyond The Return for which reason his outfit will accord TOCO Foundation the needed support.

Mr Taj Weekes, Co-founder, TOCO Foundation, said, it was an opportunity to have a TOCO community in Ghana to link the youth with opportunities.

He said cynicism in youth is deadly for society and therefore there was the need to create platforms for network and development for the younger ones.

Mr Weekes said the foundation would offer exchange programmes in sports, skills training, and ideas to Ghanaian and other African youth.

Mr Seth Yeboah Ocran, Executive Director, TOCO Foundation, said their aim was to address issues that affected youth through advocacy and support.

“TOCO’s broad focus also includes sustainable agriculture, environment, health and gender equity amongst others.

The foundation has been active throughout the Caribbean since its establishment in 2007, delivering social support to the youth and vulnerable communities from Haiti to Trinidad and Tobago.

The festival would last three months, starting from July 2 in Ghana and ending on September 24 in Namibia.

Countries to host the festivals are Ghana, Gambia, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Malawi, South Africa, Botswana and Zambia