Five Africans who have risen to become some of the most powerful people in European governments

Cécile Kyenge

An ophthalmologist by training, Kyenge is the first black person to become a government minister in Italy.

She was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and moved to Italy at the age of 19. After school and a few years of practice, she went into politics, becoming both a legislator and Italy’s Minister of Integration.

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Kyenge has known first hand what Italian racial discrimination is. Apart from being compared to a monkey, she has also been called a prostitute owing to the numerous African women trafficked into sex slavery in Europe.