Africa Needs Effective Leaders . . .

Africa has long suffered from a shortage of effective leaders. Poor leadership has cost the continent immensely over the past few decades, creating major problems in the political, economic, and social spheres:

Political

90% of Sub-Saharan African countries have experienced a repressive government in the past 30 years.
In the past 15 years, 32 of the 54 African countries have experienced violent conflict.
Only 8 of the 54 nations in Africa are considered to have a free press.

Economic

Africa is the only continent to have grown poorer in the last forty years. This was during a period that saw unprecedented improvements in living standards in the rest of the world.
Corruption costs African economies more than $148 billion USD each year. This is equivalent to 25% of Africa's GDP and disproportionately affects the poor by increasing the cost of goods as much as 20%. This corruption deters investment and impedes development and entrepreneurship.
Africa has a larger proportion of wealth (39%) held overseas by residents than any other continent. This impedes growth by reducing domestic investment and tax inflows.
Barriers to business formation deter entrepreneurs in African nations. The World Bank reports that Africans face the highest costs to business formation and have the slowest official processes for incorporation.
Africa’s many small nations and closed economies affect the ability to build strong businesses by limiting economies of scale and inhibiting intracontinental trade. African nations do only 8% of their trade with other nations in Africa, while European nations do 68% of their trade within Europe.
One in two people in sub-Saharan Africa survives on less than $1 per day. Africa has the greatest income disparity of any continent.

Social

Average life expectancy in Africa has declined by 15 years over the past two decades. Life expectancy in Africa is now only 41 years, as compared to 78 years in Europe.
Over two-thirds of all the people living with HIV in the world live in sub-Saharan Africa, accounting for 83% of the world's AIDS deaths.
Malaria kills 1.8 million children each year and costs Africans an estimated $12 billion USD per year.

Over the past 30 years, over $300 billion has been spent on Aid to Africa. At their 2005 summit, the Group of Eight nations pledged an annual increase of $50 billion in aid to African nations. The vast majority of this historical and most recent aid funding has been allocated towards addressing many of the problems above. But this aid has not been allocated towards addressing one of the root causes of the problems – the continent’s undersupply of leaders. To enable rapid development, we must train and empower a new generation of ethical and dedicated leaders to drive positive political, economic, and social change across the continent.

African Leadership Academy aims to develop these leaders

Margaret Mead once wrote: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” In Africa, individuals like Nelson Mandela, Seretse Khama, and Wangari Maathai have demonstrated how a single person can create monumental change.

African Leadership Academy aims to develop such individuals for the continent. The Academy will bring together outstanding 15-18 year old students from across the continent for an intense, two-year residential program. These students will hone their leadership skills and receive a world-class academic education that will equip them with the skills necessary to become effective leaders on the continent. Ultimately, this will create a pan-African network of leaders who can collaborate to drive positive change across the continent.