Dominica’s Cadence-lypso Queen Ophelia invited to major women’s leadership forum in Burkina Faso

Reggae anthem “Burkinabe Rise” opens doors to Ouagadougou stage

Dominican music icon Ophelia has been officially invited to perform in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, at the 14th edition of the Forum International des Femmes Entreprenantes et Dynamiques (FIED) – a leading pan-African gathering of women entrepreneurs, innovators and leaders. The invitation follows the release of her powerful reggae anthem “Burkinabe Rise”.

FIED 2025 will be held in Ouagadougou from 25–30 November 2025 under a theme that places women’s leadership, industrialisation and the valorisation of local products at the centre of Africa’s economic future. The forum brings together women entrepreneurs, investors, policy-makers and development partners for high-level panels, practical training workshops, an exhibition fair and intensive networking and partnership sessions. Its stated ambition is to advance the economic empowerment of thousands of African women by strengthening skills, visibility and access to markets and finance. (fied.africa)

Ophelia’s invitation came directly on the strength of “Burkinabe Rise”, her recent reggae single dedicated to the people of Burkina Faso and their struggle for dignity, sovereignty and self-determination. The track has been described in regional media as an anthem that links Caribbean resilience with African liberation, honouring the spirit of Burkina Faso’s current popular movement.

During FIED 2025, Ophelia is expected to perform “Burkinabe Rise” at one of the Forum’s flagship cultural moments, alongside a repertoire that showcases her signature blend of Creole, Cadence-lypso and conscious music. The organisers have highlighted the song’s message of unity between Africa and its diaspora as a natural fit for a forum that celebrates African women building new economic futures across the continent. (fied.africa)

Often hailed as Dominica’s “Queen of Cadence-lypso”, Ophelia has been a central figure in Caribbean music for decades, known for her powerful stage presence, distinctive Creole vocal style and catalogue of socially aware songs. While Cadence-lypso remains her musical foundation, reggae has been a recurrent thread in her career, and “Burkinabe Rise” places that influence firmly in the foreground, marrying a roots reggae groove with a call for African pride and solidarity.

In accepting the invitation, Ophelia described the moment as “a bridge between Roseau and Ouagadougou”, noting that the song was written “to salute the courage of the Burkinabe people and to affirm that the Caribbean stands with Africa in its fight for justice, economic freedom and cultural pride.”

Her participation at FIED 2025 is expected to shine an additional spotlight on Dominica, its music and its women leaders, while deepening cultural and economic ties between the Caribbean and West Africa. For the FIED organisers, welcoming an artist whose work explicitly honours Burkina Faso reinforces the Forum’s desire to root women’s entrepreneurship in a wider story of African and Afro-descendant empowerment. (Africa24 TV)

The Ouagadougou appearance will position “Burkinabe Rise” not only as a recording, but as a living performance shared with the very audiences who inspired it – a symbolic musical “return” from the Caribbean to the African continent.