Being a Speech Delivered by Collins Nweke as Guest of Honour and Founding Patron of The AfrikaFora, at Nzuko Africa 2026, Paris, France on 30 May 2026
Your Excellency, Founder & CEO The AfrikaFora, Madam Winifred Uloaku Gaillard
Incoming Grand Patron The AfrikaFora, Chief Ben C. Etiaba
Distinguished guests
Members of the African Diaspora
Young leaders
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is both a privilege and a deeply personal honour to stand before you today at Nzuko Africa 2026.
When I was invited to speak on the theme “Youth, Future, and the African Rebirth,” I at once recognised that this is not merely a conference theme. It is perhaps the defining question of our generation. And true to character, The AfrikaFora has located it within the context of Nzuko Africa 2026 in celebration of Africa Day.
The future of Africa will not be decided in conference halls alone.
It will be decided by the quality of our youth.
It will be determined by the courage of our ideas.
And it will be shaped by whether we choose hope over cynicism, action over complaint, and vision over nostalgia.
Because every generation inherits an Africa. But only a few generations are called upon to reinvent Africa.
I believe ours is one of them. And in more ways than one, The AfrikaFora epitomises it.
Africa’s Greatest Resource Is Not Under the Ground
For decades, the world has described Africa through the language of resources.
They speak of our oil. Our gas. Our minerals. Our fertile land. Our strategic location.
But I have come to believe that Africa’s greatest resource is not beneath the soil.
It is above it. It is the African youth.
The young woman in Lagos building a technology startup.
The young researcher in Nairobi developing solutions to local challenges.
The young entrepreneur in Abidjan.
The young creative in Johannesburg.
The young engineer in Kigali.
The young diaspora professional in Paris, Brussels, London, New York, Toronto, or Dubai.
Africa’s future is not hidden in its mines.
It is walking on its streets, from Kinshasa to Kigali.
It is sitting in our universities.
It is logging onto digital platforms.
It is waiting for an opportunity.
The question before us is simple:
Will we invest in this generation enough to allow it to flourish?
The Rebirth We Seek
When we speak of African rebirth, we must be clear about what we mean.
A rebirth is not a return to the past.
It is the creation of something new.
Africa does not need romantic nostalgia.
Nor does it need imported identities.
Africa needs confidence.
Confidence to innovate.
Confidence to trade.
Confidence to compete.
Confidence to collaborate.
Confidence to lead.
The African rebirth must therefore be economic, intellectual, technological, cultural, and institutional.
It must be a rebirth built not merely on political slogans but on measurable opportunities.
Because no young person can eat rhetoric.
No graduate can build a future on promises alone.
And no continent can prosper without creating pathways for its youth to participatemeaningfully in the economy.
African Youth & Economic Diplomacy
As many of you know, this year I begin a global tour around my recently published book, Economic Diplomacy of the Diaspora.
In every city I visit, from Europe to Africa and beyond, one question inevitably emerges:
“What role should young Africans play in shaping Africa’s future?”
The answer lies at the very heart of the book.
The central argument of Economic Diplomacy of the Diaspora is simple:
Diaspora communities are not merely remittance senders.
They are bridges.
Bridges of knowledge.
Bridges of capital.
Bridges of innovation.
Bridges of culture.
Bridges of opportunity.
And when those bridges are deliberately connected to Africa’s development aspirations, extraordinary things become possible.
But there is an important evolution of that idea.
The future of diaspora engagement is not my generation.
It is yours.
The next phase of Africa’s economic diplomacy will be led by digitally connected, globally educated, technologically fluent young Africans.
Young people who understand both Africa and the world.
Young people who can move comfortably between Lagos and London, Kigali and Brussels, Accra and Toronto, Nairobi and Silicon Valley.
Young people who can transform identity into influence and influence into development.
The African rebirth will not happen despite its youth.
It will happen because of its youth.
A New Social Contract
But let me speak frankly.
Young Africans cannot carry the burden of Africa’s future alone.
Governments have responsibilities.
Institutions have responsibilities.
The private sector has responsibilities.
The Diaspora has responsibilities.
And elders have responsibilities.
Every generation owes the next generation more than advice.
It owes them opportunity.
We cannot continue asking young people to believe in a future that we ourselves have failed to prepare.
The African rebirth requires a new social contract.
One that prioritises education.
Rewards innovation.
Encourages entrepreneurship.
Protects merit.
Strengthens institutions.
And creates an environment where talent can thrive regardless of ethnicity, religion, gender, social background, or geography.
The Power of Passing the Baton
Today is particularly emotional for me. As Founding Patron of The AfrikaFora, I have had the privilege of watching an idea become a movement.
I have seen commitment transform into community.
I have seen vision become impact. And today, I formally step aside from that role.
But let me be clear. Stepping aside is not stepping out.
It is renewal.
It is continuity.
It is faith in the future.
No institution survives if it depends on one individual.
Strong institutions endure because leadership is transferred with grace, trust, and purpose.
That is why I am delighted that the baton passes into the capable hands of our new Grand Patron, Chief Ben C. Etiaba.
Chief Etiaba has demonstrated repeatedly, in different spheres of service and leadership, an exceptional ability to receive a baton and carry it forward with dignity, wisdom, and results.
I have every confidence that under his stewardship, The AfrikaFora will not merely continue.
It will grow.
It will flourish.
And it will reach heights beyond what we originally imagined.
That is how progress works.
Each generation builds a bridge and invites the next generation to extend it.
A Message to Young Africans
To the young people listening today:
Do not wait for permission to dream.
Do not wait for perfect conditions.
Do not wait for governments to solve every problem.
Africa’s future belongs to those willing to build it.
Be ambitious enough to compete globally.
Be proud enough to remain connected to Africa.
Be innovative enough to create solutions.
And be courageous enough to challenge systems that no longer serve the common good.
The future is not something that happens to you.
The future is something you create.
Conclusion: Africa’s Finest Century
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I remain optimistic.
Not because Africa’s challenges are small.
But because Africa’s possibilities are enormous.
I have travelled widely.
I have worked across diplomacy, governance, business, media, and civil society.
And everywhere I go, I encounter evidence that Africa’s moment is not behind us.
It is ahead of us.
The rebirth of Africa will not be delivered by destiny.
People will deliver it.
By visionaries.
By innovators.
By entrepreneurs.
By scholars.
By patriots.
By diaspora communities.
And above all, by young Africans who refuse to accept that the future must resemble the past.
Let us therefore leave this gathering committed to one shared mission:
To build an Africa where talent matters more than circumstance.
Where opportunity matters more than privilege.
Where institutions outlive personalities.
Where leadership creates successors.
And where every young African can confidently say:
“The future is not somewhere else. The future is here. And I am part of building it.”
That is the Africa worth believing in.
That is the Africa worth building.
And that is the Africa whose rebirth has already begun.
Thank you.
God bless Africa.
God bless the African Diaspora.
And God bless the generation that will complete Africa’s rebirth.
Collins Nweke is Founding Patron, The AfrikaFora and Author, Economic Diplomacy of the Diaspora
