I have never formally had a mentor. I don’t even know if that’s true, but I don’t recall ever entering into a formal relationship with a person and agreeing to be mentored by them. Yet, I have been helped along my personal and professional journeys by several people whom I will consider my mentors; some were academic mentors who guided me… Read More »Is Mentoring Overrated?
When I saw the neighbourhood in Leribe where Khesa grew up, saw his father, met students at his former school, interviewed his former school principal and spoke with other community members who had witnessed his evolution, I couldn’t have been prouder of the young man who symbolizes the strength and grit that I desire to see in every young man across the world.
Those who have made a career out of bashing the youth fail to realize that every generation engages with the world the way they find it. We are pursuing different ways of engaging with our world, constantly learning from the disappointments of generations past and quietly evaluating new avenues for involvement.
In this podcast, I discussed some of the key outcomes of the deliberations of Africa’s future leaders at the fourth African Leadership Academy Model African Union conference, with topics ranging from how to redesign education systems in Africa to revolutionizing Africa’s agricultural landscape. I equally stressed that Africa cannot ‘entrepreneur’ its way out of its development challenges. As much as… Read More »Channel Africa: Change Your Game – 7 April 2017
I have often been asked what prompted me to establish the ALA Model African Union (ALAMAU) in 2013. Truthfully, I cannot take sole credit for the idea. The bottom line is that I was inspired by the passion of the young people whom I found at African Leadership Academy when I arrived in August 2012. So, let’s rewind. I was… Read More »Why I Founded The ALA Model African Union
This podcast features an intimate conversation hosted by Ashraf Garda on SA FM’s Afternoon talk, ranging from my personal entrepreneurial journey to my work developing entrepreneurial leaders at African Leadership Academy and my perspective about leadership in South Africa. Ashraf asked me for a quote at the end, so I said “If you always work hard at the things that… Read More »SA FM Afternoon Talk with Ashraf Garda – 14 March 2017
I think back very often to the time when I was 13 years old. Being an adult seemed so far away and I was not sure I could wait long enough to do all the things for which I needed to be grown-up: have a job, run my own company, get married, be my own person and every imaginable set… Read More »Memories
Louise Linton was incredibly reckless with her memoir, and she deserves all the criticism that her book will get. In attempting to justify herself, she wrote on Twitter that “I wrote with the hope of conveying my deep humility, respect and appreciation for the people of Zambia…” No, you did not! You disparaged, belittled and disrespected Zambia. You perpetuated the exact same stereotypes of Zambia and the rest of Africa that little white saviours like you have publicized over many generations.
I was beyond delighted when I got the invitation. For many years, I had heard, watched and read so much about Rwanda and I could not wait to be on the ground. For a nation that had come to be defined almost solely by one word, I could not wait to take the environment all in for myself and make… Read More »Kwibuka! A Week in Rwanda
I have just returned from a three-day experience in Istanbul, Turkey, where I had the great privilege of attending the third edition of the annual Al Sharq Youth Forum, and to network with leaders of some of the world’s foremost youth organizations. My insights from the weekend supersede the fact that global change is indeed possible, and that consensus on… Read More »Change Is Possible; Consensus Requires Effort
In December 2015, I had the privilege of being in Madrid to attend the inaugural meeting of the Common Action Forum, a new attempt to engineer solutions to political, social and economic challenges globally. Learning from and sharing ideas with world-leading experts on social justice, political reform and economic ideology was a welcome addition to my regular investments in education… Read More »The Burden of History, Tradition and Reputation
In this podcast with South Africa’s Power 98.7 FM, I discussed what motivated me to establish the Model African Union in 2013, some of the outcomes of the conference series and my hopes for Africa’s future leadership through this conference. For all intents and purposes, the conference is an academic simulation of the structures at the continental level, but I… Read More »Power 98.7 FM: About the Model African Union – 14 March 2016