Africa Development Alliance Inc.

The Africa Development Alliance is a social enterprise dedicated to supporting local, national, regional and continental development initiatives through skills training, research and professional advisory services.

https://www.covafrica.com/2019/02/top-ten-issues-to-watch-in-africa-in-2019/

Top Ten Issues to Watch in Africa in 2019 | Cov Africa Africa’s Growth Prospects. Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow at 3.8 percent in 2019, which is a significant improvement over last

Why Internships Matter For Your Future Are internships worth it? Sure, it is a valuable experience, but is it worth the time, the effort and the money? What do you gain from internships? Let...

Mandela Washington Fellowship Application Tips

Mandela Washington Fellowship Application Tips

How do I choose a Track?
• Your choice of track should be based on where you have the most interest and accomplishments (proven record of leadership). Choosing a particular track doesn’t in itself increase your chance as does the quality of your application and the alignment between your professional accomplishments and the track you’ve considered.

General Tips

• Tailor your CV to reflect your professional competence and accomplishments in the track you’ve considered. Don’t leave out your record of volunteerism and awards/honors.
• Articulate your responses as clearly as possible with the goal of revealing the leader in you. Seek to understand the objective of the question and answer accordingly. Always bear in mind that the questions are deliberately designed to unveil the leadership qualities that distinguish you from everyone else.
• Always be factual and avoid telling lies to increase your chances. Verification may be done to authenticate some of your claims.
• Stay away from generalities/ Avoid vagueness..Eg.: “We have contributed immensely to the forward march of our country…” or “we have been on the front- line of advocacy for the masses for so long….”
• Stick to specifics…Eg.: In collaboration with my community leadership, I organized a From-Street-to-School Initiative to encourage parents to stop using their kindergarten-age children as hawkers (people who travel around selling goods, typically advertising them by shouting). We were able to enroll a total of 236 children in my community (Clara Town) and 3 other adjoining communities namely Vai Town, Doe Community and Freeport. I was subsequently nominated for the 2014 YUCED Education Champions Award.
• Stop trying to impress with vocabularies. Focus on making your points with passion, facts and seriousness.
• Demonstrate your ability to work cooperatively with people from diverse background and achieve your goals.
• Proofread your application thoroughly to correct grammatical and structural errors. Simple errors may distract markers from an important point you are trying to make.

Interview Tips

• Dress nicely to give a positive professional impression of yourself.
• Be courteous
• Introduce yourself in a way that showcases your professional competence, accomplishments and academic backgrounds.
• Listen attentively and respond knowledgeably and succinctly to every question.
• Don’t attempt to impress the panel with vocabularies and big tittles. Don’t show yourself, show the leader you are. Articulate how you’ve used or are using your potentials to positively impact the lives of others. Explain how you’ve brought positive change to your office, business or community.
NB: The program is designed to showcase, develop and support Young African Leaders whose dynamism and creativity are helping to bring transformation to the African continent, so it defeats the purpose of the program to refuse to return to Africa after the US-based fellowship. Consequently, you will be required to demonstrate a strong commitment to return to your home country after the fellowship. This is a MAJOR selection criterion as well.
Good Luck!

Sedekie B. Kamara
2014 Mandela Washington Fellow
Assistant Director for Public Investment Unit
Ministry of Finance and Development Planning
Republic of Liberia

Mandela Washington Fellowship Application Tips

How do I choose a Track?
• Your choice of track should be based on where you have the most interest and accomplishments (proven record of leadership). Choosing a particular track doesn’t in itself increase your chance as does the quality of your application and the alignment between your professional accomplishments and the track you’ve considered.

General Tips

• Tailor your CV to reflect your professional competence and accomplishments in the track you’ve considered. Don’t leave out your record of volunteerism and awards/honors.
• Articulate your responses as clearly as possible with the goal of revealing the leader in you. Seek to understand the objective of the question and answer accordingly. Always bear in mind that the questions are deliberately designed to unveil the leadership qualities that distinguish you from everyone else.
• Always be factual and avoid telling lies to increase your chances. Verification may be done to authenticate some of your claims.
• Stay away from generalities/ Avoid vagueness..Eg.: “We have contributed immensely to the forward march of our country…” or “we have been on the front- line of advocacy for the masses for so long….”
• Stick to specifics…Eg.: In collaboration with my community leadership, I organized a From-Street-to-School Initiative to encourage parents to stop using their kindergarten-age children as hawkers (people who travel around selling goods, typically advertising them by shouting). We were able to enroll a total of 236 children in my community (Clara Town) and 3 other adjoining communities namely Vai Town, Doe Community and Freeport. I was subsequently nominated for the 2014 YUCED Education Champions Award.
• Stop trying to impress with vocabularies. Focus on making your points with passion, facts and seriousness.
• Demonstrate your ability to work cooperatively with people from diverse background and achieve your goals.
• Proofread your application thoroughly to correct grammatical and structural errors. Simple errors may distract markers from an important point you are trying to make.

Interview Tips

• Dress nicely to give a positive professional impression of yourself.
• Be courteous
• Introduce yourself in a way that showcases your professional competence, accomplishments and academic backgrounds.
• Listen attentively and respond knowledgeably and succinctly to every question.
• Don’t attempt to impress the panel with vocabularies and big tittles. Don’t show yourself, show the leader you are. Articulate how you’ve used or are using your potentials to positively impact the lives of others. Explain how you’ve brought positive change to your office, business or community.
NB: The program is designed to showcase, develop and support Young African Leaders whose dynamism and creativity are helping to bring transformation to the African continent, so it defeats the purpose of the program to refuse to return to Africa after the US-based fellowship. Consequently, you will be required to demonstrate a strong commitment to return to your home country after the fellowship. This is a MAJOR selection criterion as well.
Good Luck!

Sedekie B. Kamara
2014 Mandela Washington Fellow
Assistant Director for Public Investment Unit
Ministry of Finance and Development Planning
Republic of Liberia

Last week, ADA conducted a two-day training in Project Management and Report Writing for youth leaders representing a host of youth organizations including Youth Network for Sustainable Development and B**g Muslim Youth Association in Gbarnga City, B**g County.The facilitators included the Swedish-trained Applied economist Vamuyan A Sesay and Mandela Washington Fellow Kamara Sedekie Bangale

Bank President addresses issues of youth employment, access to energy and gender equality during 10th Mo Ibrahim Governance Weekend
https://www.afdb.org/en/news-and-events/bank-president-addresses-issues-of-youth-employment-access-to-energy-and-gender-equality-during-10th-mo-ibrahim-governance-weekend-16915/

Bank President addresses issues of youth employment, access to energy and gender equality during 10th Mo Ibrahim Governance Weekend

http://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/special-edition-youth-2017/youth-dividend-or-ticking-time-bomb

Youth dividend or ticking time bomb? | Africa Renewal Online Participants at the United Nations Youth Forum held in New York in January this year. Photo: Africa Renewal/Ihuoma Atanga

http://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/special-edition-youth-2017/africas-jobless-youth-cast-shadow-over-economic-growth

Africa's jobless youth cast a shadow over economic growth | Africa Renewal Online African governments are confronting unemployment in many different ways. In Senegal, with 200,000 Senegalese joining the labour market each year, President Macky Sall launched a programme in February 2013 to create 30,000 jobs within a year and possibly 300,000 by 2017. The African Development Bank…

Africa Development Alliance (ADA) is a training and research institute that offers consultancy to public and private corporations in areas of project management, strategic planning and socioeconomic development. The ADA brings together a team of highly professional and experienced trainers, researchers and development planners with fresh public and private sector experience in a variety of relevant fields. Our training offers practical solutions to contemporary challenges in business, government and civil society with the goal of effecting productive change.