Salif Keita ‘retiring to fight albinism stigma’

Salif Keita, one of Africa’s biggest musical stars, is giving up making albums so he can spend more time fighting the stigma that some fellow albinos in Africa face, his wife has told the BBC.



Coumba Makalou Keita said the 69-year-old had made the decision after completing his last album Un Autre Blanc (Another White), which was released earlier this month.

Mrs Keita runs the musician’s Salif Keita Global Foundation, set up to support people with albinism in their home country of Mali and other African nations, and she says her husband wants to spend time promoting its work.

People with albinism – a genetic condition leading to a lack pigment in their skin – are hunted down in several African countries, including Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania because of the belief that potions made from their body parts can bring good luck and wealth.

Source: BBC