Dreaming big for Africa!

 "I’m fired up, ready to go!”

That was Obama’s rallying cry in the 2008 U.S. elections. I was a volunteer caucus captain for Capitol Hill in Seattle at the time, and while those were his words, they’ve been my truth ever since—especially as I witnessed a shift in Africa’s socio-economic awakening.

Traveling across Africa, I was headhunted to lead the launch of a new international bank using digital systems that didn’t even exist in Ethiopia at the time. That experience awakened something in me—I realized I am the change I seek, even as I cared for my fathers and held sacred the love and legacy they passed on to me.

It all began with $100 and a broken heart in the Pacific Northwest. I was grieving a breakup, but I also had the seed of vision. Through God’s grace, self-discipline, and a calling that refused to be silenced, I became successful, healthy, and aligned with a higher purpose. The PNW became a sanctuary where I healed and began building. It was there, during my MBA studies, that I met a community of global visionaries who believed in healing the world. I found spiritual nourishment in nature, inspiration from pioneers like Muhammad Yunus who wrote about financial inclusion, and even met Barack Obama after his first book release.

So many of us in the Diaspora—born, raised, and rooted in Africa—have excelled with nothing but a dream in the wealthiest nation on Earth. And if we’ve been gifted these opportunities, we have a responsibility to give back—not from saviorism, but from sacred reciprocity.

Being part of the private sector taught me financial independence, and with it, came self-sufficiency, spiritual alignment, and the capacity to care for others—including my father, whose wisdom and unconditional love became my compass. I chose to be self-reliant at just 14, guided by intuition, community, and divine protection. By 35, I was grounded in gratitude—for everyone and everything that helped me succeed.

I’ve always believed: if given a real chance—not aid, but trade—with proper education, integrity, and the courage to listen to our inner truth (not just parents, husbands, or society), anyone can rise above their burden and transform their life.

Yes, I faced immense pressure—family, religion, societal expectations. But I stayed aligned to God, not man. After inaugurating the bank, caring for my father, and renting my Seattle condo as an investment, I took a sabbatical. I traveled overland—from Egypt to South Africa, to Madagascar and back—seeking to reclaim my wholeness and fall in love with Africa on my own terms.

As an African woman, I knew the hurdles were higher. Africa too often celebrates a white woman as queen, forgetting our ancestors were queens of this land, birthing humanity itself. Still, I rose—not in rebellion, but in reverence. Scared, yes. But inspired to balance service with selfhood.

This journey lit a fire in me. A fire to be part of Africa’s mental & spiritual shift—from a continent dependent on foreign narratives to one rising in self-sufficiency, innovation, and leadership. A new generation of Africans is emerging: visionary, reliable, bold. Many encouraged me to return to Africa and become part of this rebirth—and I did.

Living in Addis Ababa, the heartbeat of Africa and headquarters to the AU, UN, and global organizations, I met changemakers from across the continent—government leaders, economists, climate scientists, CEOs, researchers, all working on technology, financial systems, green economy, and job creation.

Conferences like the World Economic Forum on Africa, the African Leadership Network (ALN), and those hosted at UNECA, expanded my awareness. I engaged with topics from banking and inter-African trade, to women’s empowerment, environment, and conflict resolution. I left energized—ready to serve.

I especially recommend the ALN Forum. Imagine a room full of powerhouse Africans: presidents of the African Development Bank and Equity Bank, CEOs of MTN, managing partners from McKinsey, BCG, Acis; social entrepreneurs, top surgeons, startup founders—all co-creating the future. ALN, the brainchild of Fred Swaniker (Ghana) and Acha Leke (Cameroon) that I met while I had my partner who was my best friend since childhood who was another brilliant mind of the continent, Tenbite Ermias(Ethiopia). They were all from Stanford University that we met in our late 20s, where they were discussing how to elevate the next-gen African leadership. ALN was not just a conference—it’s a community. You leave with deep connections, bold ideas, & an unwavering sense of possibility.

Attending World Economic Forum brought me face-to-face with African presidents and prime ministers—including the late Meles Zenawi—and global executives. But more than that, it reaffirmed this truth: Africa’s time is now. And those of us who feel called to shape it must act—strategically, collectively, courageously.

We must become bridges between past & future, between diaspora and homeland, between potential and power. I strategically chose to live with my family, taking care of my father's, and in direct conflict with a controlling mother as my feminine divinity makes me impact driven. I also challenged & took responsibility of my own egoic minded false self, in self awareness to be humbled to my past ancestors, become the warrior that I am to forge my future facing the painbodies of all the powerful woman & men before me. I fought within & outside a physical, mental, spiritual, energetic, & emotional warfare, for my being to exist as a free spirit that can live, work & be impact driven in any continent knowing who I am as a human being. 

Like any rising continent, Africa must reconcile with her history, like we as human beings are evolving into our authentic self, while imagining an empowered future. We Africans on the continent and across the globe must be her ambassadors, as we are to our ancestors. I feel more humbled, grounded in truth, driven by purpose, unwavering in my love, allowing myself to embrace my weakness & strength. The world has long exploited Africa’s land, people, and spirit. It’s time we rise not as victims, but as visionaries.

We need healing.
We need deeper understanding of our diversity.
We need to see Africa not through foreign eyes, but our own unfiltered, unashamed, whole.

Let us travel. Let us collaborate. Let us sit in dialogue with Africa and with ourselves.

Let us remember that we matter. That every country, every culture, every voice on this continent contributes to a greater whole.

Let us choose to act ethically, consciously, and with reverence when building or doing business in Africa.

Let us shed the scarcity story.

Because Africa is not behind—it is becoming.

And we get to be part of that becoming.

By Dutchess @deldeyoch