Contimi Kenfack Mouafo, Germany's Student of the Year 2024, is reshaping Africa's green energy narrative. The 28-year-old electrical engineering student leads a volunteer organization that acts as a vital bridge between Africa and Europe. It backs ecological projects that are conceived and implemented independently by African students.
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00:00 When I came to Germany for my studies, the very first question I asked myself is,
00:04 what can I do immediately to create impact in my home country Cameroon?
00:09 And as a student, no experience, no money, the first thing that came to mind was volunteering work.
00:17 My name is Konti-Meken Fagmoafo, I come from Cameroon and I'm a student at the
00:23 Aachen University in Germany studying electrical engineering. I dream of a world where Africa
00:33 can stand on its own but not necessarily alone. For that to happen, there needs to be a complete
00:39 change of the way we see Africa. In 2020, I then decided with a group of very, very motivated
00:46 students, we decided to found 3East4Africa. We are an African diaspora organisation based in
00:53 Germany and we work with African students in the African countries and provide them the visibility,
01:02 which is very important to change the narrative around the continent, but we also provide them
01:06 with the funding for them to be able to implement their own project ideas. That's essentially what
01:12 we do. So maybe I can start with the name 3East4Africa. The first E stands for education,
01:19 which for us means that we work mainly with African students and researchers on the continent.
01:24 They are the thinkers and they are the change makers of tomorrow. The second E is empowerment,
01:30 which means that we don't start our own projects on our own. The projects are always initiated and
01:35 implemented by the students themselves. And the third E is eco-friendliness, which means that
01:43 all our projects specifically address the climate change crisis. Because of the work we do at
01:49 3East4Africa, I was awarded the Student of the Year 2024 award, which is a recognition for students
01:59 who beyond their studies are able to engage or to volunteer to have additional impact within
02:07 the society. And of course, when you hear the award Student of the Year, the first thought you
02:13 have is you need to have the best grades or to be the best student, but that's not necessarily
02:17 the case, right? A very important criteria for this particular award was to have a good concept
02:26 for voluntary engagement while you were doing your studies. And which is our case, which is my case,
02:32 which is our case at 3East4Africa. And we are very honoured and proud that we're able to get the award.
02:38 [Music]