Yusuf Mahmoud is the director of Sauti za Busara festival in Zanzibar. He has directed various world music festivals, concerts and seminars to raise awareness and promote solidarity in Africa.

He relocated from the UK, his home country, to Zanzibar in 1998 and five years later set up Busara Promotions, an NGO working in East Africa to strengthen appreciation for African music and develop local skills and networks.

In 2007, he was presented with a World Shaker Award at the BBC World Music Awards in recognition for his enormous contribution to the local scene in Zanzibar and the world music scene globally.In 2015, he joined the International Artistic Committee of the Market of Performing Arts of Abidjan (MASA).