Young African Leaders recognised in Tanzania

The Young African Leaders Awards event is a concept created by the African Leadership Institute (AfLI) whose patron is Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the first awards event is expected to take place in November this year in Tanzania.

The awards programme which will be preceded by a young African leaders' conference is geared to recognise and nurture the next generation of African leaders under the age of 40 and facilitate opportunities for vigorous and constructive debate and action on pan-African and global issues that African leaders face now and in the future. Furthermore the initiative is set to establish a peer network of high potential “future leaders” of Africa which spans the continent, cuts across public/private/NGO sectors, divides and facilitates greater understanding between cultures, religions and nationalities.

In his speech President Karume praised the AfLI initiative and called upon former and current African government leaders to fully support the initiative which is geared towards empowering a new generation of leaders in Africa.

The president continued saying that, “These initiatives provide optimism for the future of our continent and we are all obliged to give our full support. This goes beyond the consideration of politics, self interests, ethnicity, gender or nationalism. We need to go to the realms of science, technology, research, civil duties, the academy, business and entrepreneurship in addition to politics and government. The future development of Africa will depend on the combined role of young African leaders from all sectors and fraternities within our societies.”

In his address to the invited guests African Leadership Institute (AfLI) chairman Sean Lance said that the transformation and development of the African continent lies with the young Africans in the various sectors of government, business and civil society.

The AfLI chairman continued saying that “Africa is a young continent whose problems can be solved by young leaders by building them with the capacity to deal with those problems. The purpose of the awards is to offer the young people a chance to compete and also prepare them to be good leaders of the future African continent.”

The Young African Leader of the Year Awards will feature an award for Africans under the age of 40 in any sector of society and any country in Africa, who have demonstrated exceptional leadership in contributing to positive development in Africa. The recipient of the award is expected to have displayed courage, high values, standards and ethics and a selfless commitment to the needs of the people who are ultimately impacted by his/her leadership.

Young African Leaders Conference will be an annual three-day conference targeted at the top young leaders in all sectors of society (government/business/civil society). It will be focused each year on selected topics which are critical to the future of Africa, and of relevance to young leaders and the theme of the conference for 2009 is “Challenging the new generation of leaders to rise and make Africa's dream a reality.”

The African Leadership Institute (AfLI) with its experience in the field of development of high potential young leaders across Africa, and its alumni network of such individuals, will be responsible, in partnership with others locally and internationally, for the design, management, facilitation and co-ordination of this initiative.