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Monica Geingos, the former first lady of Namibia, on Friday launched a new Pan-African leadership center in Rwanda aimed at strengthening governance by connecting emerging leaders with seasoned policymakers across the continent.
The center, known as Leadership Lab Yetu, was officially inaugurated Jan. 31, 2026, in Kigali. It is designed to equip young African leaders with practical leadership skills while promoting collaboration between generations to address Africa’s evolving political, social and economic challenges.
The launch brought together senior Rwandan government officials and prominent African leaders. Attendees included Rwanda’s minister of youth and arts development, Jean Nepo Abdallah Utumatwishima; Francis Gatare, president of the African School of Governance; former Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou; and Botswana Vice President Ndaba Gaolathe.
Leadership Lab Yetu will focus on leaders aged 25 to 45, a demographic increasingly shaping governance across Africa. Its flagship program, the Intergenerational Leadership Accelerator, will run for 12 months and combine online instruction with in-person sessions in Kigali.
Organizers said Africa’s governance challenges ranging from rapid population growth to economic transformation require blending the institutional experience of senior leaders with the innovation and technological fluency of younger generations. They emphasized that effective leadership in the coming decades will depend on cooperation across age groups.
The first cohort includes 18 participants drawn from several African countries, including Rwanda. Participants include ministers, lawmakers, senior advisers and local government officials, reflecting a wide range of leadership roles across the continent.
Geingos said the initiative is intended to help prepare Africa’s next generation of leaders for global influence.
“The leaders Africa produces in the next decade will shape the direction of the world for the next century,” she said. “They must be equipped with the skills, confidence and values needed to confront complex challenges and deliver solutions that benefit societies at scale.”
In addition to training, the center will conduct governance research, with a focus on youth participation and demographic change, to support evidence-based policymaking across Africa.
Geingos is the widow of President Hage Geingob, who died in 2024 at age 82 while serving his second and final term as Namibia’s president.
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