Kanengo Diallo

Kanengo is a member of Corpus Christi College and a Mastercard Foundation Scholar at the University of Oxford. Alongside her undergraduate studies, Kanengo engaged with African social development through leadership roles such as serving as President of Right for Education, one of Africa’s largest digital education platforms, and contributing to the Oxford Forum for International Development, where she led discussions on humanitarian aid reform and the legacies of imperialism in African economic policy.

She received the Avril Bruten Creative Writing Prize for her short story exploring gender and postcolonial domestic life, reflecting her belief in the power of storytelling to make sense of complex social and political realities. Following her undergraduate studies, Kanengo worked as a social and environmental consultant supporting inclusive and sustainable development projects across East Africa. Her work experience encompassed sectors including renewable energy, infrastructure, agriculture, and transport, with a particular focus on and interest in social impact assessments and gender-responsive approaches.

Kanengo’s academic and professional experiences have shaped her critical interest in the narratives, social structures, and frameworks that influence urban development across Africa and in how urban infrastructure affects livelihoods and the social fabrics surrounding them. She hopes to explore these dynamics further through the MSc.