1,000 leaders to meet in Kigali for Africa Mindset Reset Forum

The African School of Governance (ASG) will host the Africa Mindset Reset Forum, an Africa-led platform aimed at fostering the leadership mindsets, institutions, and execution culture needed for the continent to realize its sovereign development ambitions. According to the ASG, the forum due on August 25-26 at Kigali Convention Centre is expected to bring together up to 1,000 leaders from across Africa and beyond, with 80 percent of participants comprising young and emerging leaders. ALSO READ: African School of Governance announces first cohort for Master of Public Administration Organizers say the event is designed not as another conference focused on Africa’s challenges, but as a platform to highlight what is already working, connect individuals and institutions driving change, and move from dialogue to practical action. Themed “From Pan-Africanism to Meta-Africanism,” the forum seeks to define Africa’s next development chapter. ASG said that while Pan-Africanism united the continent in the struggle for political liberation, Meta-Africanism calls on Africans to focus on building prosperous societies, strong institutions and sustainable economic growth. “Our forebears fought to free this continent,” said Francis Gatare, President of the ASG. “Our charge is different, the next phase of Pan-Africanism, beyond political liberation to economic creation, together as a continent. It asks something of all of us: to serve beyond self-interest, and to do the patient, unglamorous work of building institutions that outlast us. This moment belongs to those ready to do that work, and it starts with a mindset reset.” ALSO READ: African Leaders Launch the African School of Governance Initiative The organisers said that, unlike many conferences, the Africa Mindset Reset Forum is intended to extend beyond the two-day event. Through year-round thematic networks and action platforms, participants will pursue partnerships and practical initiatives aimed at strengthening governance, advancing regional integration, improving state effectiveness, stewarding Africa’s natural resources and expanding dignified employment opportunities. Young Africans are expected to play a central role in shaping these efforts. Rather than viewing youth as beneficiaries of future development, the forum recognizes them as today’s entrepreneurs, innovators and public leaders. “We often tell young people they are the future. That is not quite true. They are the present,” said former Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, who co-founded the Kigali-based ASG. “The entrepreneurs, researchers and public servants who will decide Africa’s direction are already here, already at work. Our task is not to plan Africa’s future on their behalf, but to build it with them, and then to trust them with it. That is why this is an intergenerational forum and it belongs, first, to the youth.” The forum is built around seven transformational mindset shifts, encouraging participants to move from fixed to growth mindsets, from closed to open thinking, from pessimism to possibility, from reactive to proactive leadership, from scarcity to abundance, from victimhood to responsibility, and from mediocrity to excellence. According to ASG, these ideas are intended to strengthen leadership, improve institutions and enhance Africa’s capacity to shape its own future. The organizers said the gathering comes at a crucial moment as global geopolitics shift and competition among major powers intensifies; development financing tightens, artificial intelligence transforms economies and demographic changes accelerate. “In this context, African countries must increasingly solve African problems through African leadership and home-grown solutions,” the ASG said in a statement.

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1,000 leaders to meet in Kigali for Africa Mindset Reset Forum