—Sylvester Loving, B1Daily

As a Black Brit who has long grappled with questions of identity, belonging, and heritage, I’ve observed something striking: Israel, for all its flaws, seems to cherish and actively support its diaspora in a way that African nations often conspicuously fail to do for theirs.

Walk into a Jewish cultural centre in London or New York, and you’ll find a community that is intricately linked back to the “homeland,” with educational programmes, financial aid, dual citizenship schemes, and a robust cultural network designed to make every member feel connected and valued. There’s a sense that, no matter where you are in the world, Israel wants you in its fold.

Contrast this with the experience of the African diaspora. From the Caribbean to the UK to North America, the ties back to the continent often feel faint and transactional at best. There are precious few structured programmes that make diasporic Africans feel seen, supported, or invested in by the governments of the countries their ancestors came from. Citizenship or investment incentives are rare, cultural outreach is patchy, and in many cases, the diaspora’s very existence is treated as peripheral to national priorities.

This isn’t to romanticise Israel or deny the manifold issues it faces, far from it. But the contrast is glaring. African governments, for all the talk of pan-Africanism or “reconnecting with the diaspora,” often act as if distance erases responsibility. Meanwhile, Israel treats its global community not as an afterthought, but as a crucial part of its identity and its strategy.

For those of us who feel both the pull of Africa and the sting of neglect, the disparity is painful. It forces a reckoning: why does a small, embattled nation manage diaspora relations with such care and sophistication, while the very continent that birthed us seems so indifferent?

If African nations truly valued their global children, not just in rhetoric, but in policy, investment, and cultural outreach, they could transform their diaspora from a scattered population into a connected, thriving network, much like Israel has done. Until that happens, many of us will continue to feel the strange and bitter contrast: cherished by a foreign state, neglected by our ancestral one.

—Sylvester Loving, B1Daily