It was such a delight to spend time with changemakers and grantees of the Gates Foundation in Dakar, Senegal — training, learning, and working together on something close to my heart: how to center our voices, our experiences, and our stories as Africans in the work we do for our communities and countries.
These were powerful voices from Francophone Africa. Niger, Cameroon, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, and Gabon. And every time I do this work, I’m reminded again that Francophone and Lusophone Africa are not just part of the story. They are the story. There is a quiet, confident wave of transformation coming from these regions. And it matters that we tell those stories from a deeply Africa-rooted place.
Because it is our continent. And it is our destiny.
Thank you to our brilliant Joy, Inc. Senegal colleagues, Massamba and Ndeya, for pulling this together with so much grace and to the amazing Gates Foundation team for making it possible. There’s nothing I love more than sitting with people across this continent, helping fire up our stories and amplify our voices. There is a fire moving across Africa and it is beautiful to watch.
Read Excerpt : https://www.instagram.com/p/DL6pdZ_Ndz6/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
