Eight Moments Where Africans Took Center Stage at This Year’s Global Citizen NOW

Lydia Charles Moyo

Tanzanian entrepreneur and women’s rights activist Lydia Charles Moyo received the 2024 Global Citizen Prize: Women & Girls for the work she does with Her Initiative, the women-led non-profit organization she started, as well as for creating the world’s first Swahili e-learning platform, Panda Digital.

The young entrepreneur is on a mission to empower young women by arming them with the tools necessary to survive and thrive in a digital world.

In a conversation with OkayAfrica at this year’s event, Moyo emphasizes on the importance of bridging gaps across generational lines:

“I feel like every generation has their good things and their bad things. There isn’t a perfect generation – even if you speak about Gen Z. Intergenerational efforts are key. Intentional intergenerational efforts to bridge intergenerational gaps. So we know what we know, they know what they know, but if we continue doing what we know and they continue, we collapse somewhere. But, if we bring our efforts together and learn the best practices from one another, we'll be able to move. So maybe this generation is really good at technology and innovation, simplifying how to do things using AI, etc, and the other generations might be a bit skeptical, but they can learn.

Even our politicians, our governments – most of them are still operating in the old ways. So that's something to learn from the current generation. But, the senior generation, the older generations, have got so much wisdom as well. We are building this world on the shoulders of giants. They have so much experience. We might think we know it all, but they also know the best way of doing things. We could learn some of the basics and keep what is really good for us, and we could ignore all the other things that are not good for us. It's about time that we start collaboration.”

Olivier Ndoole Bahemuke

For his work as an environmental rights defender and lawyer, Olivier Ndoole Bahemuke was awarded the 2024 Global Citizen Prize: Civic Space. The Congolese activist co-foundedAlerte Congolaise pour l’Environnement et les Droits de l’Homme (ACEDH) in 2008, and works with Human rights-defending body Front Line Defenders.

Known as the “Green Lawyer” in his home province, the advocate has spent his life working towards materializing environment and land rights, championing climate activism and legal defense of the environment and its defenders. His decade-long journey has seen the environmental activist receive death threats and physical violence, leading to the harrowing decision to flee his home and family in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

As many on the stage called out the Global North for its role in the environmental crises the African continent faces, Bahemuke tells OkayAfrica:

“The Global North makes speeches about how to protect the environment when they are in their countries, but when they are in the Global South, they [do] other activities. You can take the example of [French Petroleum Company] Total, or [Anglo-French oil and gas company] Perenco, in the DRC, they are making a lot of destruction of the environment. But, when you are in Paris, they will tell you that they want to fund saving the environment.

There’s also an issue with transparency. Here, at Global Citizen, it’s very transparent – we’re all free to talk. But, when you are between major companies and politicians, they only talk about issues that are linked with their interests. But when it affects the interests of poor people, like community members, that is not important.

One focal point on which we must work on, especially in the DRC, is strategic mining. The world is saying that the DRC is the future of transitional energy. Do we, in the DRC, accept that we must be sold because it is the future of transitional energy? Will it benefit the Congolese people?”

H.E Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda and Isha Sesay

In a virtual conversation co-presented by OkayAfrica, veteran journalist and Areya Media (OkayAfrica’s parent company) CEO Isha Sesayhosted Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame who spoke about Kwibuka 30 — the thirtieth anniversary of the Rwanda genocide against the Tutsi — and his country’s journey to stability and progress.

Watch their full conversation here:

Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi and Bahamian Prime Minister Philip E. Davis

President of Botswana Mokgweetsi Masisi (right) speaking onstage during Global Citizen NOW 2024 at Spring Studios on May 02, 2024 in New York City.

At the forefront of a monumental move of solidarity and a commitment to enhance bilateral cooperation between nations, sits President Mokgweetsi Masisi of Botswana, and Bahamas’ Prime Minister Philip E. Davis. The two have been actioning a partnership between the island Caribbean nation of The Bahamas and the landlocked African state Botswana, as they battle environmental crises of differing phenomena with equally excruciating effects on their land and people.

Last September, the two leaders signed a Memorandum of Understanding solidifying their mutual commitment to the economic development and progression of both countries.

Watch their full conversation here:

Wangari Kuria

Kenyan women’s rights activist and founder of Farmers on Fire LTD,Wangari Kuria joined Stefan Löfven, former Prime Minister of Sweden, and Gargee Ghosh, from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, for a discussion on “Building a Stronger World.” They also discussed ways in which aid can be increased and used to help developing countries combat poverty and climate crises. The agricultural entrepreneur spoke with enthusiasm about the importance of communities having the means to sustain themselves, declaring, “Farming is sexy!” Her captivating online videos educating and encouraging the youth to act, as well as her work to reduce barriers for young people across Africa and their ability to flourish in agricultural business, landed her the Global Citizen Prize: Citizen Award in 2023.

Through mushroom farming and reconnecting with indigenous crops and vegetables that fed generations before her, Kuria and her team of women farmers are on a steadfast mission to eliminate hunger and improve safe food production in Kenya and across the continent.

On the growth she’s witnessed within her communities, Kuria tells OkayAfrica:

“The first [thing I’ve noticed] is mindset. Knowing that we are not helpless, that we can own our future, that we can do something about it. And the fact that women are very communal has been a big driver towards that agenda; and seeing us rely on each other and leverage on each other's strengths to move forward as a united block, that has been the most powerful and most impressive. Our daughters can watch us and see and they can learn to believe that, ‘Oh, I can do this. I can own my path.’

An empowered woman is able to educate her children, talk to her children in the right way. She’s able to avoid gender-based violence. There's been a lot of femicide in my country just for being a woman. We are able to speak back because we are confident and we know our worth.”

Dr. Kakenya Ntaiya

Kenyan educator, women’s rights activist, and entrepreneur Dr. Kakenya Ntaiya attended this year’s Global Citizen NOW summit to continue her fight against child marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM). Ntaiya shared her story of being betrothed to a man at the age of five, and being a victim of FGM herself. Through her nonprofit organization Kakenya’s Dream, Ntaiya is investing in young women and girls in and around rural communities through education, leadership skills development, and more.

Ntaiya tells OkayAfrica about working with Global Citizen, and the importance of women in leadership:

“We need a stage to be able to amplify the voices of so many young girls throughout the world, who are being denied a future free from harmful practices like female genital cutting, child marriages and things like that. And I think Global Citizen creates that space to amplify the voices of others because it's driven by people who are very close to the issues. It’s giving the spaces to people who are at the forefront and people who have lived experiences.

We are in a very different place than when I was a little girl. Now more girls are going to school, more girls are speaking up for themselves. I mean, the continent has these vibrant, young people, who are actually not just girls, but even boys who are now starting to be champions for girls. And it's like there's this hopefulness in our continent. I think it is time that the leadership create the space to mentor the next generation to take over. I mean, that is how we thrive. That's how we create a better future.

I think it is time that Africa realizes that leadership is not just for the older generation, it’s for the young and bright, smart and talented young people who [when given the opportunity to] thrive, our continent will be so much in a different place. And I am hopeful that we are seeing them push, we are seeing them come together, we are seeing them standing for each other. And it's a generation that doesn't just say it's men, but it's both the youths standing for the future that they want to see.”

Berla Mundi

Ghanaian media personality and activist Berla Mundi stunned this year’s Global Citizen NOW attendees with her stylish looks and astounding belief in the power young women hold within. Speaking on a panel hosted by American journalist Chloe Melas with Delta Airlines Chief Marketing & Communications Officer Tim Mapes, and Vice President of Disaster Programs at Red Cross, Jennifer Pipa, the group discussed “How Consumers Can Drive Global Change,” and find better ways to encourage consumers to stay privy to a company’s stance on issues that affect them socially, environmentally and otherwise.

Discussing the relationship between local and international media, and African audiences, Mundi tells OkayAfrica:

“I think that we've done fantastic as traditional media. The only failure I can really pinpoint to is the fact that unfortunately, many of us have not been able to own the narrative as much as we should, which is why you see that for the longest time, there's still foreign media that's reporting things that do not necessarily paint the African continent in the right picture frame. And that's something that we're really fighting against. We want our voices heard, and we'll ensure that we tell the story the way it is and not the way the rest of the world wants to see it.

Now, the good thing is that we're doing our job. We're fact-checking. We're making sure that we're telling the story and we're telling it as much as possible, and it makes it easier for us. We're holding leaders accountable. And I've mentioned journalists like Manasseh Azure from Ghana, and my team at Media General. There are investigative pieces where we go out and really check the stories for ourselves. If there are any anomalies or discrepancies, we hold the people in charge accountable and put that information out so the rest of the world sees that if there's anything wrong, these are the people who are not doing it right and they need to be either kicked out, called to book or allowed to be given that opportunity to address the issues better. And that's what we're doing right and so far, I think we've done a great job.”

Osi Umenyiora

British Nigerian two-time Super Bowl champion Osi Umenyiora’s Super Bowl ad shot in Accra, Ghana, and featuring a variety of popular American football players, captured audiences around the globe with its inspiring story. The former football defensive end took to the Global Citizen NOW stage to discuss the untapped potential on the continent, and how his work with the National Football League (NFL) is bringing the opportunities that could meet that potential and use it to change the world.

Umenyiora speaks to OkayAfrica about his drive to do more for his home nation Nigeria:

“[My work with NFL Africa] started with an understanding that all the charity work that had been going on before, the things that I had been doing before, going back, building wells, and just the typical things, weren’t making enough of an impact. So we have to find a way to get Africans to be able to help themselves. And what better way to do that then to utilize the talent that could actually help the organizations, too. So it becomes more of a long-term thing as opposed to just one - you just going back and giving and giving. That only lasted so long.

But, when it’s reciprocal for both people, I think that enables things to last a lot longer. So I knew I had to find a way to get these incredible athletes the opportunities. And we went ahead, we did that. They were very successful. And then the floodgates opened up after that.”