YALI RLC West Africa Successfully Holds Its Maiden Alumni Conference

The West African Alumni chapter of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) held its first Alumni Homecoming Conference on Thursday 23rd November 2017 to Sunday 26th November 2017, under the theme “The Role of the Youth in Socio-Economic and Political Transformation in Africa”. The conference, which was convened at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), was the first since the establishment of the YALI Regional Leadership Centre (RLC) West Africa, Accra in 2015, and had in attendance over 200 alumni of the RLC from 9 West African countries namely; Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote D’Ivoire, Gambia and Cameroon.

The conference was officially opened on Friday, November 24th, with presentations and panel discussions from Guest Speakers including Ghana’s Honourable Mustafa Hamid (Minister for Information), Dr. Ekow Spio-Garbrah (Former Minister for Trade and Industry, Former Minister of Communications, and Former Minister of Education), Mr Alex Deprez (USAID Mission Director for West Africa), Samia Nkrumah, Dr. Shola Safo Doudu (Director of YALI West Africa) and other dignitaries.

Dr. Shola officially welcomed participants to the conference emphasizing the need to sustain the RLC to continually train Young Leaders. She mentioned that, with the support of its partners, the RLC has trained over 2200 young people in leaderships, ethic, accountability and contemporary issues in Africa in the specialization tracks of Civic Leadership, Business Entrepreneurship and Public Management. She added that, The RLC has now published a book that tells the incredible stories of its Alumni.

The Key note speaker, Hon. Mustafa Hamid, equally encouraged the Alumni to champion the development of Africa, emphasizing the need for them to remain proactive in ensuring accountability and championing development in their respective countries. He further encouraged the Alumni to take the conscious effort to learn more, beyond their professional or academic specializations. He applauded the RLC for taking its leaders through Ethics, Leadership and Accountability, stating that these (Ethics, Leadership and Accountability) are the most important foundations for excellence in almost all aspects of life. He therefore encouraged the Alumni to avoid greed and remain Ethical.

The homecoming conference was also an opportunity for alumni members from all the West African states to build strong alumni networks and forge meaning partnerships for new projects which will ultimately contribute to the development of our communities.

Alumni coordinator, Oxford Bonsu was also optimistic that the investment in developing young African leaders will pay-off significantly and thank all the partners for their investment in the youth of Africa.