I remember the red soil of Tamale, my hometown in Ghana and our elders’ stories of past kingdoms. Years later, I stood on Carleton University’s campus in Ottawa, a humble student carrying those African dreams. In the cold Canadian winter, as I studied Economics far from home, I realized that being African in Canada means carrying two worlds at once. In that dual identity — African by birth, Canadian by choice — I learned our diaspora is a powerful force.
We are part of a global family of over 200 million strong, each of us a storyteller, a mentor, an entrepreneur. In Ottawa and across Canada, Afro-Canadian communities gather at churches, mosques, cultural clubs and startup incubators to uplift youth and share skills. We plant the seeds of capacity building: coding camps taught by diaspora engineers, business networks connecting Accra and Toronto, and mentorship circles nurturing young leaders. We know that an African in Ottawa shares the same hopes as one in Nairobi, as we work toward the same goal of lifting our people. Read More
Written by: Sumaila Gariba