With the help of businessmen like Tunde Folawiyo, the African Leadership Academy is able to broaden the horizons of its students, not only by offering them a theoretical education, but also by bringing them along to important events, such as the Economist Africa Summit, which was held earlier this year in London.
Two young leaders from the academy, named Oluwasanmi Joshua Oyenuga and Priscilla Semphere, were asked to attend the summit, along with Dr. Frank Aswani, the ALA’s Director of Strategic Relations. All three were invited as both keynote speakers and guests. The purpose of this event was to shed light on the meaning behind Africa’s growth rate figures, and to examine in further detail the most recent economical, societal and governmental trends on the continent. By doing so, those in attendance hoped to gain insight into the current opportunities and challenges which African nations are facing.
Frank, Priscilla and Oluwasanmi listened intently to the other speakers, as they discussed the possibility of investing and operating in various regions around the continent. The Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was also present; she explained that, due to the continuous growth across many African nations, the continent should be able to meet its UN Millennium Development goals by 2015.
A representative from a nanotechnology R&D company, Nano Labs Corp, was also present at the summit; Dr. Castano explained that the company’s products could easily help to utilise the African continent’s infrastructure, adding that their company would be concentrating their efforts on introducing their agricultural products to farmers, to support the increasing demand for self-sustainable development in this particular industry.
The ALA attendees had the opportunity to voice their opinions whilst speaking on a panel at the summit. This panel focused specifically on young people’s role in entrepreneurialism and innovation in Africa, and was moderated by Becky Anderson, a presenter from CNN. Oluwasanmi and Priscilla discussed not only their own aspirations, but also how they believe Africa can make the most of its large youth population, as a significant proportion of the continent is under the age of 25. Frank also offered his thoughts on the subject, and spoke in detail about the role which the academy will play in helping to create Africa’s future leaders, and how the African Leadership Network supports the work of the ALA, along with the Global Advisory Board members, including Tunde Folawiyo.