Open call for YALI Dakar Program

The Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) is an initiative of Barack Obama, former President of the United States, which dates from 2010. The objective is to support young African leaders in their efforts to stimulate growth and prosperity, strengthen democratic governance and improve peace and security in the African continent.

Initially, it consisted of a series of high-level forums, including the Obama Forum with Young African Leaders in August 2010, the Young African Women Pioneers Forum in June 2011, and the Summit on Innovation and partnership for mentoring young African leaders of June 2012, in addition to the approximately two thousand (2000) youth activities that took place in American Embassies located across the African continent.

The YALI DAKAR Regional Leadership Center (CRL) housed within the African Center for Advanced Studies in Management (CESAG) offers two types of training in the following 3 areas: Business and Entrepreneurship, Civic Leadership and Public Management. It is:

• hybrid training which takes place over 5 weeks with 2 weeks of online training followed by 3 weeks of face-to-face training in Dakar.
• distance learning which takes place over 8 weeks entirely online and asynchronously.

Eligibility Criteria

• The project targets young people aged between 18 and 35 with leadership potential. The elements below are mandatory to be admitted to the call for applications process:
  • be able to read and write in French;
  • be a citizen and resident of one of the following 25 countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central Africa, Comoros, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Gabon, Republic of Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Islands Mauritius, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Sao Tome Et Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Chad and Togo;
  • have a valid passport or identity document;
  • be willing to follow the 8 weeks of online courses and participate in distance learning activities;
  • be willing to follow the 2 weeks of online courses, participate in the activities and travel to Dakar for 3 weeks for hybrid training;
  • have access to the internet and an IT tool (computer or tablet) to follow the online training phases (both hybrid training and distance learning);
  • be willing to put the skills and training received in the field of leadership to the service of their country and/or community after the program.
• Depending on your profile or your project, you must choose a single field of training: Business and Entrepreneurship, Civic leadership or public management.
  • Public Management
    • a leader of a project or project idea in the public sector (project bringing change);
    • a civil servant, a state contract worker, an employee of the private sector or an agent of the decentralized administration;
  • Civic Leadership (or civic engagement) 
    • a project leader in citizen engagement;
    • a leader of a youth club, association, non-profit organization, NGO or civil society organization;
    • a social entrepreneur;
  • Business & Entrepreneurship 
    • a business project leader;
    • an entrepreneur or business manager.

For more information, visit YALI.