The African Leadership Academy is a pre-university program in Johannesburg, South Africa. We seek to develop Africa’s next generation of leaders who are ethical and entrepreneurial.
Each year, we identify exceptional young leaders from across Africa with demonstrated leadership potential and a strong sense of purpose. Through our unique curriculum, these young leaders develop the skills, mindset, and network to contribute to our mission of enabling lasting peace and shared prosperity in Africa. We continue to accelerate these leaders throughout their lives, with connections to careers and networks of people and capital that will enable their dreams of transformational change.
ALA teaches a two-year curriculum in African Studies, Writing and Rhetoric and Entrepreneurial Leadership, as well as the usual core academic courses. We have accepted students and alumni from 46 African countries since founding in September 2008 into our growing community.
We comb Africa for youth who show the spark of initiative; who see what can be and strive to make it so.
Young leaders complete an intensive program of intellectual growth and hands-on leadership development.
Young leaders are guided by a powerful network along their path to create transformative change in Africa.
Our founders demonstrated ethical and entrepreneurial leadership to envision and drive the establishment of the African Leadership Academy.
ALA’s growing network of young leaders is catalyzing transformative change on the African continent and beyond. Here is the next generation of ethical and entrepreneurial leaders.
The ALA Campus is a beautiful space in Johannesburg. It includes dormitories, the auditorium, sports fields and more.
ALA has evolved from an audacious idea to a thriving institution with a passionate, diverse, and committed community. As we look to the future, we are making careful strategic choices that build upon the successes of our first decade and position ALA to maximize its long-term impact on the continent.
I came to ALA intending to stay for a year, learn some new skills and see another part of the African continent. I’ve now spent 7 years at ALA (over two stints) and I’m not done learning. The daily motivation of coming to work as part of an intentional community is deeply enriching. As is the reward of being challenged by students and peers who are thoughtful, committed and driven. I am also grateful for the many opportunities to laugh.
Work is not always about getting the task done. There is more meaning to working at ALA. From my experience, there is a deliberate attempt to get to know the person that you are working with. This opens the opportunity to leverage each other’s strengths and build on each other’s weaknesses as growth areas. This is how I see collaboration thriving at ALA.”
When I joined ALA, my passion for finance and business was fostered. I currently work as an investment specialist, focussed on African investment initiatives that will change the continent.
One of the things that I learnt at ALA is how to be a pioneer. Don’t be afraid of big ideas that scare you.
My daughter began teaching me about the new project that I was embarking on. I was so proud that my 15-year-old daughter is teaching me. Sending her to ALA helped her see the world from a different perspective.
The ALA experience sets you apart. The speed of professional growth you achieve, the unique opportunities you gain and the connections you make are unparalleled! ALA was definitely accretive to my professional experience. I went from being the CFO of ALA to getting three offers as a first-time investment professional in private equity.
Working at ALA has been one of the most fulfilling experiences I have enjoyed in my lifetime. I have the opportunity to work with teams of talented and committed people that inspire me to live my best life all day, every day. My most cherished experience at ALA is being part of a community that cares deeply and with intention for its own, just like a family would. Some of my closest friends are people I work with every day. I remain inspired by their commitment towards mission building for the continent and our community.
I look forward to going out into the world and applying the skills and competencies that I have acquired at ALA so as to inspire other and make the change that I seek in the world.
I have started a Masters program at the Harvard Kennedy School focusing on international development and policy making (with two ALA alumni as my classmates). Everything I have learned from ALA, our students, and from all of you has given me a unique perspective to bring to the conversations with my classmates and colleagues. For that, I am deeply grateful, and I hope to continue to contribute to ALA’s vision of lasting peace and shared prosperity in disadvantaged parts of the world in my academic and professional journey.”
When Francis approached us back in 2013, as Parents, that he wanted to go to ALA, and would therefore fall behind by a year, if he was to leave Bishop Mackenzie International School (BMIS) in Lilongwe, Malawi, we debated the merit of this audacious move. Eventually, we resolved that, no, let us not stand in his way. Let him join ALA, maybe his destiny will be shaped there. I am glad to say, we do not regret he attended ALA. By the time he was finishing at ALA, we noticed that he had certainly matured beyond his age and peers at BMIS. He was brimming with enthusiasm and full of confidence, with a clear focus of what he wanted to do in life. We believe ALA taught him to believe in himself.
Together with Wuntia Gomda, we designed the Wastewater Treatment System, which has the capacity to clean 300K litres of water annually. When we – through ALA – won the 2019 Zayed Sustainability Prize is a moment that I am never going to forget.
One of my greatest achievements to date was to be appointed by the Secretary General of the United Nations to serve as 1 of 17 advocates for the sustainable development goals where I will solve some of the toughest issues facing humanity. If I didn’t go to ALA I would not be where I am today. It changed the trajectory of my life.
I am glad that I made the decision to send my daughter to ALA . She is more articulate, expressive and certain about her purpose in life.
ALA shaped my daughter Waigumo into the leader she is today. My deep appreciation goes to the school for providing opportunities to enable her embrace and truly discover her multifaceted characteristics and unknown talents.
Through the various opportunities ALA provided, she developed sound depth in academic research, engaged in arenas that increased her holistic knowledge on African youth and political leadership, empowerment of women on the African continent and engaged in riveting discourses on how to propel the versatile continent into unforeseen heights. With fondness, we are grateful to ALA for not only inspiring her deep passion for mathematics but propelling her to a mind shift of holistic excellence; By gaining a network of like-minded and lifelong friends, I have no doubt that Waigumo will aid in the development of a more equitable, sustainable, and technologically driven future for Africa.
Through theatre, music, visual, literary, and performing art, storytelling and the creative engagement of our communities we can decolonise and de-commodify our minds, bodies and continent together.
Working at ALA affords me the opportunity to meet with, and be part of the experience of each one of our students through the totality of our pastoral care programmes. Students who on arrival are so confused and reticent, develop social skills that enable them to become better communicators and collaborators within a short time through the various spaces that our programming created for this. Seeing the strong bonds that develop among students and adults while at ALA, and the connection I personally have with them beyond the Two Year Programme makes me glad and fulfilled.”
I believe that access to quality education can transform lives and I work with a community of entrepreneurs to make that happen.
In 2009, a friend casually mentioned a certain African Leadership Academy during our morning work out. The following year, I went to Johannesburg to see this too-good-to-be-true Academy. Fast-forward 10 years after that visit, all my children have graduated from ALA! I don’t know of any better transformational experience my wife and I could have offered our children!
I felt appreciated and loved each day at ALA. Thank you for allowing me to mentor and care for our young leaders on campus. I am privileged and humbled to play a role (albeit, small) in defining the future of the continent and this world. Thank you for teaching me how to dream for a better continent, to celebrate my “Global South” identity, and care for each other without restraint. I am grateful for the lessons in leadership, humility, and excellence that I have learnt over the past two years. And for these invaluable gifts, I shall remain forever indebted.
I came to ALA for the students, but I stayed because of the colleagues – the staff and faculty who are the heartbeat of this place. With them, I get to learn every day. I get to be challenged and I get to grow. With them, the work is more fun. The work becomes more meaningful because it is done with people I care about.”
If am happy to see who he has become, and I hope other parents will consider ALA for their child. I can assure them that they will not make a mistake. The transformation in my son is that he now knows who he wants to be.
Every student is unique but she/he needs to be nurtured further in order to bloom and ALA is the place that provides the necessary space and opportunities to bring out this uniqueness of its students. Here, no one is a competitor to anyone but rather, only a complement for each other. The student only competes with herself/himself to reach greater heights. How ALA transforms young promising minds within 2 years (filled with challenges, opportunities, diversity, care and fun) into future passionate leaders, can only be experienced and cherished over a lifetime by a parent.
ALA provides alumni with life-long access to powerful networks, support and opportunities that will accelerate their impact and leadership journeys.
