\n
Idris Elba has been given citizenship of his father\u2019s native Sierra Leone.<\/p>\n
The British film star landed in the capital Freetown on Wednesday for his first visit to the country.<\/p>\n
Elba told the BBC\u2019s Umaru Fofana that citizenship was \u201cthe biggest honour I could get from my country\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m no stranger to Africa: I\u2019ve been in Africa, I\u2019ve made films in Africa, I\u2019ve championed Africa,\u201d he said. \u201cBut Sierra Leone, it\u2019s a very different feeling because it\u2019s my parent\u2019s home.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe welcome has been incredible, and I\u2019ve plugged straight into that energy that I think Sierra Leone is rising with.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe son of the soil is coming back to fertilise the soil.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Disney in Africa\u2019<\/h4>\n
As part of that commitment, the Avengers actor said that he wanted to invest in developing tourism, but also spoke about boosting the entertainment industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmerica or England cannot house my ambition. Africa can house my ambition, I can create another Disney here [and] I can\u2019t do that in America.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elba was born in London in September 1972. His late father grew up in Sierra Leone, and his mother is from Ghana.<\/p>\n
The star, who was named People magazine\u2019s \u201csexiest man alive\u201d in 2018, is best known for his work in Marvel films, including the Avengers, as well as for the lead role in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.<\/p>\n
He also starred in a Netflix movie about child soldiers, Beasts of No Nation, which was filmed in Ghana.<\/p>\n
Sierra Leone was hit hard by a civil war between 1991 and 2002, and between 2014 and 2016 nearly 4,000 people died in an Ebola outbreak which also damaged the economy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Idris Elba has been given citizenship of his father\u2019s native Sierra Leone. The British film star landed in the capital Freetown on Wednesday for his first visit to the country. Elba told the BBC\u2019s Umaru Fofana that citizenship was \u201cthe biggest honour I could get from my country\u201d. \u201cI\u2019m no stranger to Africa: I\u2019ve been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":769361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-769360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment"],"yoast_head":"\n
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