 Born Mvemba a Nzinga, he was the son of Manikongo (Mwene Kongo) (king) Nzinga a Nkuwu, the fifth king of the Kongo dynasty.At the time of the first arrival of the Portuguese to the Kingdom of the Kongo's capital of M'banza-Kongo in 1491, Mvemba a Nzinga was in his thirties, and was the ruler of Nsundi province in the northeast, and the likely heir to the throne.He took the name Afonso when he was baptized after his father decided to convert to Christianity.