Ambassador Scherba`s new op-ed in The Citizen dedicated to the Africa Day
29 May 2026 12:00
“When studying at Ukrainian Soviet school, every Thursday morning I had to stand in front of my classmates and tell them what was happening in the world.
As it was the 1980s, almost every time I spoke about Africa. South Africa, the African revolution was on everyone’s mind. This is how foreign exotic words “Soweto”, “Nelson Mandela”, and “apartheid” entered my teenage life.
After that, Africa and I parted our ways – until my recent appointment as Ukraine’s ambassador to Pretoria.
So, what was it like for a 55-year-old European like me to see for the first time the continent that made my heart race 40 years ago?…”
