In addition to offering a full-time two year course, the African Leadership Academy also runs an annual event called the Global Scholars Programme. Tunde Folawiyo, and others who are familiar with the ALA, might know that this is an intensive summer camp designed for teenagers, which aims to provide them with as much information regarding social entrepreneurialism and leadership as possible. Students from all over the world come to South Africa for this programme.

Those running the GSP ask participants to focus on two main goals; discovering how they – the leaders of tomorrow – can make Africa a more peaceful and prosperous continent, and developing the skills needed to achieve such a monumental goal. Students whose applications are accepted are given the opportunity to reflect on their personal and professional ambitions, and unearth new ways to reach their full potential. Much like in the full-time ALA course, the GSP also aims to help them gain a better understanding of the continent’s most pressing challenges, as well as its greatest opportunities.

Joseph Musembe was part of the first group of young people to take part in this programme, back in 2011, when it was first launched. There were 16 students in total, six of whom were students at the ALA. The remaining ten hailed from several African countries, and the USA. Each person was selected based on their willingness to be of service to others, their global mind-set, their excellent academic records and of course, their potential to become an ethical, effective leader.

During Joseph’s first week, the group concentrated on learning about each other, by sharing stories about their different backgrounds. This exercise was included in order to show them that diversity can be a help, rather than a hindrance, to team work – most people, including Tunde Folawiyo, would probably agree that this is an important lesson, which all young people should learn. The following week, Joseph and the other participants travelled to Kliptown, Soweto and Zandspruit, in order to gain a better idea of what issues needed to be addressed most urgently in these communities. Here, Joseph explained, they learned the value of having a need-based, rather than a solution-based mindset.

During the third week, they set to work creating social enterprises which would benefit the people living in the areas they had visited. To round off the program, they were treated to a series of speeches from a number of influential figures, including Thulani Madondo, who serves as the chief executive of the Youth Programme in Kliptown, and Yusuf Randera-Rees, a graduate of both Oxford and Harvard.