We are proud to welcome our 5th class of students to the African Leadership Academy.
This year, we received 2,960 applications to the Academy from around the continent. From over 2,960 applicants, 94 young leaders were accepted and enrolled in our two-year program. African Leadership Academy also welcomes two Gap-Year students and 1 Term Abroad student. At 3.58% our admission rate remains as competitive as ever.
The incoming group of young leaders come from 30 different countries,28 from the African continent. We are especially excited to welcome students from Niger, Somaliland and Cape Verde for the first time. The Admissions Committee was impressed by the diversity of talents, interests, and impact these young leaders have shown and we are confident in their ability to become transformative leaders.
Two members of the first-year class (Oluwasanya Awe of Nigeria and Dani Hove of South Africa) recently participated in the Pan African Mathematics Olympiad in Tunis. In August, Laetitia Mukungu (Kenya) and Faisal Burhan (Tanzania) were shortlisted as finalists for the Anzisha Prize, Africa’s premier award for young African entrepreneurs.
We hosted our annual opening convocation ceremony called Taalaw to welcome our new students to the Academy. The ceremony was organized and led entirely by the second-year students.
Mr. Faith Abiodun, a faculty member in the Academy’s English department, gave the opening Taalaw address to the ALA community. The African dance group and the school choir, ALApella, also gave performances as part of the ceremony.
The highlight of the ceremony, which is an ALA tradition, was the entrance parade of the students by their country of origin. Students wore their traditional attire and second-year’s welcomed first-year’s by country. There are a total of 35 countries represented at African Leadership Academy, 33 of which are African countries.
There was also an opening concert with a special performance by renowned South-African singer and songwriter Vusi Mahlasela. The welcoming ceremony concluded with an evening fire and candle ceremony at the Academy’s campfire arena.
