R&B star Akon yesterday paid a surprise visit to the Marsa Open centre, a most welcome guest for most of the residents there.

"Akon is the man," a Congolese youngster at the centre yelled as he made his way through the crowd that barricaded access to the singer in a few seconds.

He arrived in a silver Mercedes, not too dissimilar to the ones that provide the background of R&B music videos, except this Merc belonged to the American Ambassador and had no flashy alloy wheels.

"Akon, Akon," a small group which was next to the car when the machine was driven in, shouted, after which some 200 immigrants circled the singer and his band, which followed immediately after in a van.

Some seemed simply thrilled about the visit, but others were evidently big fans.

The Senegalese-American hip hop and R&B singer rose to fame in 2004 following the release of his single Locked Up, which was actually inspired by his personal experience in prison following a car theft conviction.

He has been on a high ever since. In fact, his second album, Konvicted, earned him a Grammy.

He urged the Maltese who are having difficulties in accepting migrants to "get out of their shells" but emphasised that he felt Malta was doing a good job over all.

"It's hard for you, you're a small country... honestly I wouldn't have said that there could be a problem."

He stressed the message he launched on the Granaries on Thursday, where he performed for the Isle of MTV festival.

"We are all one people at the end of the day. Africans helped build this side of the world 300 years ago when we were taken but nobody helped build Africa. Now we need to help build that side of the world."

US Ambassador Molly Bordonaro said she had the idea of approaching Akon to do yesterday's visit, in view of his commitment to African development.

Akon is, in fact, the founder of Konfidence Foundation, a non-profit organisation that is dedicated to charitable projects in Senegal and other parts of Africa.