This summer, African Leadership Academy welcomed young people from across Africa and beyond for three short programs designed to turn learning into action. Across leadership, engineering, and artificial intelligence, students were challenged to work on real problems, collaborate across cultures, and build solutions with practical impact.
Global Scholars Program brought together students aged 13 to 19 for an immersive experience in entrepreneurship, leadership, and cross-cultural learning. Through the 18-day Engage Africa and 10-day Explore Africa tracks, participants worked alongside South African entrepreneurs, tackled team challenges, and developed skills in communication, confidence, innovation, and creative problem-solving.
The Chevron Engineering Leadership Program, now in its sixth year, brought together 31 students from seven African countries to design engineering solutions for challenges in education. Students developed projects ranging from smart glasses for visually impaired learners to STEM kits made from electronic waste. The winning project, Portable Learning Blocks, used interactive offline technology to support early childhood literacy and numeracy.
AI for Africa, a new bootcamp delivered in partnership with Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), introduced students to coding, machine learning, AI tools, and AI safety. Participants learned from leading researchers and applied their new skills to build AI-powered solutions addressing challenges in agriculture, education, sustainability, and other areas affecting their communities.
While each program offered a different experience, they shared a common approach: young people were trusted with real challenges and given the tools, mentorship, and space to do something about them.
Students left ALA with more than technical knowledge or entrepreneurial skills. They returned home with new friendships, broader perspectives, greater confidence in their own abilities, and firsthand experience turning ideas into action.
Across all three programs, that was perhaps the most important outcome: a growing belief among young people that they have the ability to shape the future around them.
