Meet our team member from Côte d’Ivoire — Kenneth Prudencio

My name is Kenneth Prudencio, Advocacy Officer at ASAPSU, Côte d’Ivoire and I am from Benin, in West Africa. I have lived in Nigeria, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire and France.  

Growing up on this part of the African continent has played a very strong part in the way I see the world. My Portuguese surname, while being an African person, made me try to understand how international relations have been made between Africa and the world. This reflection led me straight to the development issues and guided my studies.

This southern perspective about the opportunities and the challenges in Africa has made me what I like to call an Afro-realistic. On the other hand my experience in France has enriched my vision on the world dynamics which I think need to be understood by African professionals and leaders. 

I firmly believe that Africa has in itself the capacities to achieve its own development. These capacities need to be enhanced, improved, and highlighted. That’s why I chose advocacy : to contribute to this achievement by highlighting the challenges and proposing the solutions. I firmly believe that solutions need to come from those who live the challenges daily. Hunger, climate change, health care, and so on are NOT African attributes. But wherever you choose to fight them, your solutions need to be built with the very people who face the struggles. I truly see my job as an advocate as a way to put forward these solutions and do whatever I can to make sure that adapted solutions are well implemented by the relevant people to relieve the struggles of the concerned populations. 

That’s why I chose ASAPSU and decided to contribute on its journey to help strengthen the health system in Côte d’Ivoire and improve the fight against the health issues in Africa in general.