Lyshanda Moyas Says the Crown Was Never the Destination as She Builds a New Vision for Miss Afrikana Zimbabwe
For former Miss Universe Zimbabwe Lyshanda Moyas, the crown was never the final destination. Her time in pageantry has instead strengthened her belief that beauty competitions can serve as powerful platforms for leadership, advocacy, cultural representation and storytelling. Now, as she takes on the role of Co-Director of Miss Afrikana Zimbabwe, Moyas is turning that belief into a broader vision for the future of African pageantry. She wants the emerging competition to become more than another event where contestants compete for a title and a crown. Moyas believes Miss Afrikana can become a global platform where African women tell their stories with confidence, authenticity and pride.
Moyas has made it clear that her understanding of pageantry extends well beyond beauty, fashion and the excitement associated with competition stages. She views pageantry as an opportunity for young women to speak about their experiences, represent their communities and challenge perceptions about Africa. Her philosophy is particularly focused on the importance of Africans controlling how their stories are presented to the world. She believes African women should have the freedom to discuss their identities, cultures, challenges and ambitions without having their experiences reshaped to suit outside expectations. This approach places storytelling at the centre of her vision for Miss Afrikana Zimbabwe and gives the competition a purpose that goes beyond selecting a winner.
“Pageantry has always represented far more than beauty, crowns and stages,” Moyas says. She believes it provides young women with an important platform to tell their stories, represent their communities and encourage the world to see Africa through African eyes. That principle is expected to play an important role when Miss Afrikana Zimbabwe holds its inaugural event next year. Moyas sees the competition as an opportunity to create a space where African identity can be celebrated without being diluted. She wants the women taking part to understand that their voices and personal experiences are valuable parts of what they bring to the pageant.
For Moyas, the question of who controls the African narrative remains central to the Miss Afrikana project. She argues that African women should not have to rely on outsiders to define their identities or explain the realities of their communities. Instead, she wants the platform to allow contestants to speak about Africa from their own experiences and perspectives. “Our mission is not to tell stories that have been diluted to make them more comfortable for others,” she says. “It is to tell them with authenticity, dignity and pride.” Her position reflects a growing interest in pageantry that places greater emphasis on cultural identity, social impact, leadership and representation alongside traditional elements of beauty competitions.
Moyas also brings first-hand experience to her new leadership position after serving as Miss Universe Zimbabwe 2025. Her reign gave her an opportunity to understand the responsibilities that come with representing an entire country on a public platform. She says the experience exposed her to leadership, advocacy, media engagement, partnerships and the expectations attached to holding a national title. Those lessons have influenced the way she now views the role of pageantry and the preparation required of future queens. Rather than seeing the end of a reign as the end of a pageant journey, Moyas wants to use her experience to help create stronger opportunities for the women who follow.
“I want to use that experience to help shape the Zimbabwe we want,” Moyas says, describing a Zimbabwe that confidently tells its own story, celebrates its people and contributes meaningfully to the broader African narrative. Her new role gives her an opportunity to turn that ambition into practical work within the pageant industry. The task will include identifying a suitable representative, helping her develop the skills required for international competition and ensuring she understands the responsibility attached to the title. Moyas believes a successful pageant representative must be prepared to communicate effectively, engage with communities and carry the expectations associated with national representation. The crown, in her view, should therefore represent responsibility rather than simply status.
The emergence of Miss Afrikana comes as African pageantry continues to explore wider ideas around culture, identity, advocacy and leadership. Moyas believes the competition can contribute to that shift by creating opportunities for women to develop their voices and influence conversations beyond the pageant stage. Her vision also extends beyond Zimbabwe because directors have been appointed across different continents. She sees this international structure as evidence that Miss Afrikana is being developed as a global network rather than simply another national competition. The objective is to allow African stories to move across borders while remaining connected to the people, cultures and experiences that produced them.
“It demonstrates that Miss Afrikana is building something truly global,” Moyas says. She believes the international network can help African voices reach wider audiences without losing their cultural foundation. This global approach could also create opportunities for participants to engage with people from different countries and gain exposure to ideas and experiences beyond their immediate communities. For Zimbabwe, the project presents an opportunity to place local talent within a broader African and international conversation. Moyas wants that international reach to strengthen rather than weaken the connection between the representative and the country she represents.
Before Zimbabwe sends a representative onto the global stage, however, Moyas believes the organisation must establish the right foundation. That starts with identifying a woman who understands that holding a national title comes with significant responsibility. She says the ideal candidate must recognise that she will represent more than herself when she wears the Miss Afrikana Zimbabwe crown. “We have the responsibility to identify, prepare and empower the right woman to represent Zimbabwe,” Moyas says. She wants that woman to understand that she will carry the hopes, aspirations and identity of a nation, making preparation an important part of the competition’s overall purpose.
Moyas will undertake this responsibility alongside Bruk Brooke Jackson, Miss Universe Zimbabwe 2023, and Sakhile Dube, Miss Universe Zimbabwe 2024. Their involvement creates a leadership team made up of women who have experienced the demands and expectations of national pageantry themselves. Moyas sees the partnership as something much bigger than three former queens occupying positions within the same organisation. She describes it as a continuation of their individual journeys and an opportunity to turn their shared experiences into something lasting. The collaboration also reflects her belief that former pageant queens can play an important role in preparing and supporting future generations.
“Our collaboration represents something bigger than three former queens coming together,” Moyas says. “It represents sisterhood, continuity and a shared belief that we can build something meaningful for the women who will come after us.” That focus on continuity is a significant part of her approach to leadership. Moyas does not believe a queen’s influence should disappear once another contestant receives the crown. Instead, she sees former queens as custodians of experience who can share knowledge and help future representatives understand what awaits them. This creates the possibility of a stronger support structure where lessons from previous reigns can inform the preparation of future titleholders.
The preparation of the next Miss Afrikana Zimbabwe representative will therefore involve more than getting ready for a competition. The team will need to identify a woman with the confidence, communication skills, leadership qualities and sense of responsibility required to represent Zimbabwe internationally. Moyas believes the process should allow the candidate to understand her own story while also learning how to communicate it effectively to different audiences. The successful contestant will need to balance her personal identity with the wider responsibility of representing her country and continent. For Moyas, that combination is essential because the woman who wins will not simply be carrying a title, she will be carrying a story.
“She will be carrying a story,” Moyas says. “A story of a nation. A story of a continent. A story of a generation.” Those words capture the central idea behind her vision for Miss Afrikana Zimbabwe. She wants the representative to understand that her platform can influence how people view Zimbabwe and Africa while also giving her an opportunity to advocate for issues that matter to her. The competition can therefore become a space where personal ambition connects with community representation and wider African identity. That approach could give the pageant relevance beyond the traditional competition format and encourage contestants to think seriously about the impact they can make.
Moyas believes Miss Afrikana should ultimately create opportunities for African women to lead, advocate and influence conversations beyond the pageant stage. She does not dismiss the importance of beauty in pageantry, but she wants beauty to exist alongside purpose, intelligence, confidence, cultural pride and social responsibility. “I believe Miss Afrikana can become a powerful platform for celebrating African excellence while creating meaningful opportunities for women to lead, advocate and influence conversations beyond the pageant stage,” she says. Her vision places the contestant’s voice at the centre of the experience and challenges the idea that a pageant title should be measured only by appearances, events or competition results.
As Miss Afrikana Zimbabwe prepares for its inaugural event next year, Lyshanda Moyas is positioning herself not simply as a former beauty queen but as a builder of a new pageant institution. Her experience as Miss Universe Zimbabwe 2025 has given her insight into the demands of national representation, while her new leadership role allows her to help shape how future contestants are prepared. Together with Bruk Brooke Jackson and Sakhile Dube, she wants to create a structure built on sisterhood, continuity and meaningful opportunities for African women. The ultimate test will be whether Miss Afrikana can translate those ambitions into a platform that delivers real opportunities and gives contestants lasting influence. For Moyas, however, the objective is already clear: the crown is only one part of the journey, while the greater purpose is giving African women the confidence and platform to tell their own stories in their own voices.
