The launch convened prominent African leaders to mark the beginning of a new pan-African hub dedicated to strengthening intergenerational leadership and unlocking the continent’s demographic potential.
The gathering in Kigali was attended by members of Yetu’s Board of Directors and distinguished guests from across the continent. These included Monica Geingos, 3rd First Lady of the Republic of Namibia and Founder & Co-Chair of Leadership Lab Yetu, alongside H.E. Mahamadou Issoufou, Former President of the Republic of Niger, and H.E. Ndaba Gaolathe, Vice President of the Republic of Botswana. The event also featured respected African leaders and practitioners, including Dr Nkosana Moyo, Founder and Executive Chair of the Mandela Institute for Development Studies, Jakkie Cilliers, Chairman of the Board and Head of African Futures and Innovation at the Institute for Security Studies, and many more.
We’re grateful to our strategic partners, the Ministry of Youth and Arts and the African School of Governance (ASG), for their support in creating such an engaging event full of thought-provoking discussions. Hon. Dr. Utumatwishima Jean Nepo Abdallah, the Minister for Youth and Arts for Rwanda, and Francis Gatare, President of the African School of Governance, both gave energizing remarks throughout the event to offer practical advice to Dr. Hage G. Geingob Fellows and African School of Governance pioneers.
A central moment of the launch was the unveiling of the inaugural cohort of Dr. Hage G. Geingob Fellows joining Yetu’s flagship program, the Intergenerational Leadership Accelerator (ILA). These talented and dynamic leaders from across different corners of Africa came together in Kigali for the first time to begin their journey through the 12-month program. The cohort includes ministers, parliamentarians, senior advisors, and local government leaders who are already positively shaping public life and navigating reform from within their individual institutions.
Meet the inaugural cohort of Dr. Hage G. Geingob Fellows
Through the ILA, emerging and established African leaders will work together to co-create practical policy solutions to challenges such as job creation and education, and to test these reforms through applied leadership labs. Alongside the ILA, Leadership Lab Yetu will serve as a hub for forward-looking research on governance, youth inclusion, and demographic trends, generating evidence-based insights to inform policy design and institutional reform across the continent.
View highlights and images from the launch event below.
Monica Geingos, Founder and Co-Chairperson of the Board of Directors at Leadership Lab Yetu, said:
“The African leaders that emerge in the next 10 years will be the architects of the world’s evolution over the course of the next 100 years. They must be equipped with the capacity and confidence to navigate complexity, unlock opportunity, and bend the arc of leadership towards implementing scalable solutions. We are thrilled to launch Leadership Lab Yetu as a transformative space where the innovation and drive of high-potential, innovative leaders can converge with the experience of those who understand the bottlenecks inherent in state processes and systems.”
Rumbidzai Chisenga, CEO of Leadership Lab Yetu, said:
“Our mission is not only to make institutions in Africa more representative, but to strengthen their capacity by equipping leaders with the policy insights needed to steer the future with integrity and agility, and implement transformative solutions. The research we produce will be timely and forward-looking. The bold ideas that new and experienced leaders co-create will become the bedrock for inclusive and effective governance across the continent.”
