The African Leadership University (ALU), launched in Mauritius last month with the aim of training Africa’s future leaders, has huge ambitions – to build 25 campuses across the continent and train three million leaders in five decades. It has partnered with Scotland’s Glasgow Caledonian University to award internationally recognised degrees to graduates.
The idea is to build 25 campuses in major cities across Africa, which will host some 10,000 students each and will cost some US$100 million to establish. The overall aim is to produce three million African leaders over the next five decades. With its first campus fully operational in Mauritius, officials said that in the coming months a new campus would open in the Rwandan capital Kigali, followed by a campus in Nigeria.
For now, though, the ALU and Glasgow Caledonian University will deliver degrees for the inaugural class of 180 students from 29 African countries who are already enrolled after being selected from among more than 4,000 applicants. They are working towards entry into Glasgow Caledonian University degrees in business, computing, social sciences and psychology.
ALU is an audacious initiative that uses innovation to create a fresh solution to an old problem – creating high-calibre leaders who will drive Africa’s development and inspire generations to come.