Idrissa Akuna Elba OBE, better known in the entertainment industry as Idris Elba, is set to reframe Africa by constructing a smart city in Sierra Leone.
The actor, rapper, singer, and DJ was born in the London Borough of Hackney to African parents – his dad, a Sierra Leonean, and his mother, a Ghanaian – who seem to have identified with his roots.
Elba is building the eco-city on rural Sherbro Island off the coast of West Africa along with Siaka Stevens, a grandson of Sierra Leone’s former president.
In an interview, Elba told the BBC, “Are we ever going to make a profit? I don’t think so, but it is about being self-reliant., it’s about creating an economy that feeds itself and has growth potential.”
