Paris, 20 April 2021 - The call for applications closed on 5 April and the selection process for the 2021 edition of the French-African Foundation's Young Leaders programme now involves an ad hoc committee of public decision-makers and business leaders. These personalities of the Franco-African relationship have until 10 May to contribute to identifying the one hundred laureates who will make up the class of 2021.
The independent selection committee in charge of determining the composition of the next class of Young Leaders brings together decision-makers from France and French and English-speaking Africa. These personalities hold ministerial positions (Romuald Wadagni, Benin's Minister of Economy and Finance; Ursula Owuzu, Ghana's Minister of Telecommunications), work in development institutions (Chinelo Anohu, Senior Director at the Africa Investment Forum- AfDB Group; Béatrice Lederlé, Deputy Director of the AFD's Africa Department) or recruitment and training organisations (Didier Acouetey, CEO of the AfricSearch Group; Kamil Senhaji, VP Emerging Markets at Galileo Global Education). They are also head of holding companies (Hassanein Hiridjee, CEO of the Malagasy group Axian; Mohammed Dewji, CEO of METL) or major players in the pan-African media universe (Marwane Ben Yahmed, Director of the publication of the Jeune Afrique Group; Malick Diawara, Editorial Director of Point Afrique). The world of culture is also represented by Jean Fall, founder and executive director of Cinewax and Aida Muluneh, founder of the first East African photography festival, Addis Foto Fest. Laureates of previous promotions of the French-African Foundation's flagship programme are also present (Aminata Kane, CEO of Orange Sierra Leone; Khady Koné-Dicoh, Partner at Amethis).
To select the most promising candidates, the panel members will be asked to conduct remote interviews in association with members of the French-African Foundation. On 10 May, the enlarged committee will meet for a final vote to select the final group, with strict respect for parity, and with attention paid to representativeness by sector, region of Africa and country.
The composition of the class of 2021 will be announced in May, paving the way for two sessions of the Young Leaders programme on the theme of resilience, in France and Senegal, which will allow the winners to benefit from unique mentoring, training and networking opportunities with leaders from the public and private sectors.
"While the 2021 edition of our programme is defined by the expansion of the programme, the diversity and quality of the composition of the selection committee, which has tripled in size, confirm the institutional recognition of the Young Leaders programme. This also marks our desire to bring together the generations of decision-makers of today and tomorrow to support the emergence of this creative, ambitious and committed succession ready to co-construct the world of tomorrow," emphasises Alexandre Coster, co-founder and co-president of the French-African Foundation.
The full selection committee of the Young Leaders 2021 programme:
À propos de la FAF
Established in February 2019, the French-African Foundation's mission is to identify, bring together and promote the most promising talents on France and African economic, political, academic, social and cultural scene, and to support the leadership and management potential of this new generation, in particular through its flagship Young Leaders programme. This programme offers its laureates the opportunity to participate in two seminars, in France and in Africa, to develop their leadership skills, exchange with senior leaders from the public and private sectors, and together propose a reflection on key themes.
The partners of the initiative are Agence française de développement, French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Groupe Duval, Meridiam, Société Générale, l’Essec, Concerto et Egon Zehnder.