The Platform of African Communities emerged in the 1990s as a response to the increasing need for representation and collective action among African communities in Belgium, particularly in Antwerp and Flanders. The platform was launched at a time where several Pan-African organizations began to unite across national boundaries to address common issues that affected all migrant communities.

The catalyst for the creation of the African Platform was a series of incidents in the late 1980s and 1990s, notably the death of Semira Adamu, a young African woman who died due to police violence. This event shook up the African diaspora, highlighting the urgency of confronting racism and anti-immigration policies. In response, leaders like Billy Kalonji, Berco Paterson and Benedict Mayuku, who were already active in anti-colonial and anti-racist work, pushed for the formation of a unified body that could effectively represent the African community's interests. The African Platform was also an answer to the reproach that the voices of representatives of smaller African organisations were not representative of the entire community, and this particularly during a meeting with Antwerp's socialist mayor, Léona Detiège, in 1996. This was the starting point for years of efforts to establish a legitimate and recognized pan-African organisation that could enter into dialogue with the government and stand up for the rights of the African diaspora.

The African Platform's primary goals included fighting racism, combating stereotypes inherited from the colonial era, and advocating for the rights and representation of African immigrants. It also aimed to enhance solidarity among the diverse African communities in Belgium, foster a sense of collective identity that unified national and linguistic divides and serve as a collective and representative voice of the African diaspora in Belgium.