You serve as Vice President (Diaspora) for the Pan-African Youth Union and have been a strong voice for African youth globally. For those unfamiliar with your work, how would you describe your journey and what motivates your commitment to youth leadership and diaspora engagement?

I’m from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), but my family and I fled to Belgium in 2003, where we became political refugees. I was only nine years old, and I was not well aware of my culture, or even the concept of “culture”. All I knew were the dishes my mother cooked, the languages we spoke and some customs.

In Belgium, I grew up in a mixed society —Congolese at home, Belgian outside. One day in high school, my friends and I were talking about our backgrounds. The French said they are French; the Greek were Greek. Then they asked me, and for a moment I could not place myself. I had been in this country for so long, I spoke  like them, I ate like them, but I was not them; that’s how I decided to reconnected with my African roots. 

From then on, at age 15, I yearned to know everything about my history. I made it my mission to ensure that young people from the diaspora remain connected to their roots, regardless of the communities they were being raised in. 

I joined different diaspora grassroots organisations and eventually I found my calling in policy formulation. I realised that as much as we march for our rights, we need to be the origin of policies that shape our lives—both in our host countries and countries of origin. 

I believe that collectively the diaspora youth possess all the tools to support the continent, to reshape the world order and re-write history from our perspective. That is my motivation—our untapped potential.

As a representative of the African youth diaspora, how does your work help strengthen ties between young Africans abroad and the continent? What initiatives are you currently leading or involved in that support this mission?

It is important for youth in the diaspora to meaningfully connect with the continent. A few years ago, I worked on a project on diaspora remittance and investment in Benin, Ghana and Senegal. We found out that the motivation for remittance or investment are different depending on how long you have been away from your country of origin. First-generation youth remit for specific mostly social causes, while second and third generations are more interested in business. 

This shaped my work with the Pan African Youth Union. We connect African minds with diaspora minds. We invite diaspora youth organisations to our Pan-African consultations and other events—fully-funded by us—where they have the opportunity to voice their challenges. We recognise the diaspora’s diversity, so we are building a Diaspora Youth Council to help streamline and amplify everyone’s efforts. 

You participated in the Africa Day event at this year’s UN High-Level Political Forum in New York. What key message did you bring on behalf of Africa’s youth diaspora, and what outcomes do you hope will follow from your participation?

At the HLPF, I was representing all youth with an African heritage, regardless of where they are. I presented the outcomes the work we did during the Children and Youth Forum held on the margins of the 11th Session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD) in Kampala, Uganda, in April 2025. African youth’s message to the world is: “We, the youth of Africa, do not ask for permission to lead; we claim our right to shape the present and co-create a dignified, just and sustainable future for all.” 

Some of the pressing matters to us African youth, include but not limited to:

1. Youth unemployment: We ask for more investments in science and technology; Inclusivity, especially investing more in educating girls and ensuring the social parameters permit them to stay in school.

2. Financing of youth innovation and entrepreneurship: Governments must support and scale up investment in youth innovation and start-ups; mobilise multi-stakeholder support for youth entrepreneurship; establish a youth fund under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and create regional innovation hubs and platforms.

3. Protecting youth on the Continent: Develop youth-sensitive social protection systems, scale up support for marginalised youth, and invest in affordable and accessible childcare.

I was especially pleased that theAfrican diaspora was recognised as a powerful force for investment, innovation and transnational solidarity. Cross-border youth innovation systems must be developed in partnership with diaspora communities. We hope AU member States endorse this document and that development partners help implement it.

Finally, what is your message to (a) young Africans in general and (b) young Africans in the diaspora—especially those seeking to contribute meaningfully to development on the continent?

To my sisters and brothers: Frantz Fanon was right—“Each generation must, out of relative

obscurity, discover its mission, fulfill it, or betray it.” The challenges of our generation need careful attention.

For those on the continent, shake things up! Don’t be normal—you were never meant to be. If you were, the rest of the world wouldn’t fight you so much. Be extra-ordinary, our continent is. 

Don’t hate politics; (instead) use it to make your communities better. Expect pushbacks because some of the established political leaders are wary of new ideas. 

Work for today and prepare for the next generation of leaders; don’t fight for change in your 20s and then fight against it in your 50s.

To my sisters and brothers in the diaspora: You are the roots of the tree, go as far as the sun goes and beyond. Share our cultures and values, bring back tools to help us grow. 

Educate yourself. Engage in the politics of your host nation. Influence and shape policies that ensure African nations have a fair and equal place on the global stage.