Guess who’s packing his bags for the Motherland? British actor and all-around heartthrob  Idris Elba has revealed plans to make Africa his home within the next decade.  The star, whose parents hail from Ghana and Sierra Leone, is on a mission to bolster the continent’s film industry. In a chat with the BBC, the 52-year-old star of The Wire and Long Walk to Freedom shared his vision for moving to Africa to contribute to local filmmaking. He’s got big plans: building film studios in Zanzibar and Accra, living in multiple locations (because why not?), and changing how the world sees Africa.

The Hollywood star wants to shift the global perspective of Africa to showcase the richness of African culture, languages, and traditions. “If you watch any film or anything that has got to do with Africa, all you’re going to see is trauma, how we were slaves, how we were colonised, how it’s just war and when you come to Africa, you will realise that it’s not true”, he says. 

He envisions making Africa’s unique culture known globally, such as how people can differentiate between New York and Los Angeles without visiting.

Elba’s timing couldn’t be better. The world is waking up to the power of African storytelling, with major players like Netflix investing heavily in African content. Beasts of No Nation, the Netflix hit in which Elba starred, was one of its first major global successes featuring African narratives. And now, more productions are coming our way, with Netflix announcing a push to develop African talent through training and scholarships .With Nollywood already crushing it, Elba believes there’s even more potential to unlock across the continent. By living in Africa, he hopes to help build the infrastructure needed to bring more African stories to the global stage. And let’s be honest: if Idris Elba’s in charge, we’re in for a blockbuster​​.