With an ongoing commitment to promoting the development and future success of Africa’s youth, the African Leadership Academy remains one of the continent’s foremost learning institutions. Through the hard work of students, faculty and board members of the academy, as well as the continued encouragement of supporters such as Tunde Folawiyo, the African Leadership Academy continues to implement new strategies to encourage young African students to strive toward a brighter future for the communities that surround them.

In an ongoing effort to spread the impact of the ALA’s programmes across the continent and beyond, students embarked on the 2014 Social Innovation Camps (BUILD-in-a-Box Camps). Organised for high school students in local and disadvantaged areas across Africa this year, these camps provide opportunities for young students to identify needs in their underprivileged communities, learning valuable social and entrepreneurial tools along the way in order to combat these challenges. Teachers from participating schools are taught ALA methods in the hope that they inspire great changes within their respective communities.

Partnered with the Canadian Embassy in South Africa, the first of the Social Innovation camps were organised in February at Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa utilising a unique BUILD-in-a-Box toolkit created by ALA’s Centre for Entrepreneurial Leadership. During the camp’s activities, sixteen facilitators explained the concept of entrepreneurial leadership, teaching the BUILD (Believe-Understand-Invent-Listen-Deliver) model for entrepreneurship. They then led the 60 participants toward understanding the process of identifying societal challenges within their communities and exploring varied solutions to overcome these barriers. Four other camps were organised in February and others across the continent will follow this summer.

The African Leadership Academy and its valued supporters aim to tackle the challenge of excessive youth unemployment across the continent by promoting innovative solutions to the challenges facing African youth and their communities. Students of the ALA have also joined in efforts, with the academy’s young leaders organising numerous summer camps in order to spread entrepreneurial leadership among their peers. It’s this joint partnership between students, staff and supporters that drive the academy’s goals of ensuring Africa’s bright young minds receive the educational tools needed to bring forth great social change within the continent and beyond. Supporters of the academy such as Tunde Folawiyo and millions of others play an integral role in the success of the ALA and its hundreds of hopeful students yearly. Through these camps and other ongoing initiatives, the ALA continues to provide a great source of encouragement for millions of students throughout Africa.