Hip Hop king...Powell stuns audience at Albert Hall
He wowed onlookers with his deft moves after speaking at the event highlighting the talents of the African continent.
The Africa Rising! concert also featured pop singers Christina Aguilera and British-born singer Seal, but it will be best remembered for General Powel's song with Nigerian group Olu Maintain.
Still wearing a buttoned up suit, he seemed at ease in front of the cheering crowd as he performed the popular Nigerian dance Yahoozee.
The general, who became a household name over the US invasion of Iraq, even took the microphone to sing lyrics and was taught the latest dance moves on stage by the pop stars.
Africa Rising! organiser and media mogul Nduka Obaigbena said: "I never thought I would see Colin Powell dance Yahoozee, he showed that common touch."
Speaking before his dance, Mr Powell said: "I stand before you tonight as an African American.
"Many people have said to me you became Secretary of State of the USA, is it still necessary to say that you are an African American or that you are black, and I say yes, so that we can remind our children.
"It took a lot of people struggling to bring me to this point in history. I didn't just drop out of the sky, people came from my continent in chains."
Mr Powell said a lot of wrongs have been done to Africa by Western powers faced with "an iron curtain and a bamboo curtain".
But he explained that these barriers have now fallen and that "the world is being driven now by new financial forces".
He said: "Asia is expanding, it created jobs for people, and Eastern Europeans are doing the same, in my continent - Latin America, it's happening also - it's now Africa's turn.
"(With) all this wealth creation going on in the world, it won't happen with just wishing, it will be done with hard work."
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