UNESCO honours Congolese rumba as cultural treasure

Trumpeters from the Bana OK band play at La Septante club in the Kasa-Vubu quarter of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. (Courtesy/Reuters)

The heady beats of Congolese rumba were hailed by UNESCO on Tuesday as it added the central African music and dance to its list of global cultural treasures.

The Democratic Republic of Congo and Congo Republic had submitted a joint bid for their rumba to receive heritage status for its unique sound that melds the drumming of enslaved Africans with the melodies of Spanish colonisers.