Five young leaders have been awarded at a ceremony during the African Leadership Forum (ALF), hosted by the former President of Tanzania, Dr Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, and the Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat, H.E. Wamkele Mene, in Accra, Ghana. These include the overall winner Faizah Atu Muhammad (Nigeria), first runner-up: Innocent Matekere from Tanzania, second runner-up: Sithandweyinkosi Sivela from Zimbabwe, third runner-up: Onwuka Dabeluchukwu Chiemelie from Nigeria and fourth runner-up: Manda Nixon from Cameroon.
The ceremony, which took place on Thursday night, was attended by political and business leaders from across Africa. A grand prize of USD 2,000 was awarded to the overall winner. She read her essay at the ceremony. The winners had the opportunity to participate in the plenary session of the ALF, as well as showcase posters that visually describe their ideas in the exhibition space.
In December 2022, Uongozi Institute opened the doors again to young Africans to contribute to important discussions on leadership and sustainable development through Youth Leadership Competition. Their target remained: African citizens (including the diaspora) between the ages of 18 and 25. They asked participants to respond to the following question: If you were an African leader, how would you promote intra-Africa trade to unlock agricultural potential in Africa?
Over 1,150 entries were received, representing an enormous variety of solutions and ideas on how to facilitate agricultural intra-trade within Africa. The essays were judged on the basis of originality, creativity, use of language and appropriateness to contest theme.
Dr. Kikwete, who is the Patron of the African Leadership Forum (ALF) and fourth President of Tanzania and H.E. Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat (AfCFTA) co-convened the 7th African Leadership Forum (ALF) in Accra, Ghana from 25 – 26 May 2023.
This year’s theme has been “Promoting intra-Africa trade to unlock agricultural potential in Africa”. Ghana’s President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo attended as the guest of honour. The delegates of the forum included former heads of state and government, as well as other distinguished leaders from all parts of the continent – and from a range of professions in government, business, academia and civil society.
The forum featured an opening plenary session, and three closed sessions on: Unlocking Agricultural potentials in Africa, Market as a driver for fostering agricultural productivity in Africa and The role of Africa’s partners to support the success of the AfCFTA. The organization of ALF 2023 has been managed by UONGOZI Institute and the AfCFTA Secretariat.