Bill Clinton Lauds the Africa Leadership Initiative

The Africa Leadership Initiative (ALI) received special mention at the just ended inaugural Clinton Global Initiative Summit held in New York 15-17 September 2005. Speaking while handing over a certificate of commitment to Ali A. Mufuruki, Chairman and CEO of Dar es Salaam based Infotech Investment Group LTD and a co-founder and chairman of ALI - East Africa, President Clinton praised what he called the good and necessary work being done by ALI towards equipping emerging leaders in Africa with the knowledge tools they need to lead in the globalization era.

"I am very grateful for what you are doing in Africa and wish you the best of success" said Mr. Clinton before an audience of more than 600 that included heads of states, Nobel Prize Laureates, academics, business and civil society leaders from all corners of the world.

Offering a background on the initiative, Ali Mufuruki said, "The ALI fellowship is a 36 month-long rigorous leadership development program modeled on the immensely successful Henry Crown Fellowship of the Aspen Institute of Aspen Co. USA. This is in response to the clear and present crisis of leadership in Africa. The result is continued poverty, conflict and hopelessness for millions of men, women and children. The causes of this crisis are numerous, but high among them is the fact that many African countries lack a broadly shared vision of the future that effectively melds the demands of globalization with local values. The ALI project is but one of the many initiatives going on on the continent aimed at addressing this problem and we are proud to make our modest contribution in this manner."

ALI has since trained more than 80 fellows in East Africa, Ghana, Mozambique and South Africa and the three inaugural classes graduated this year. A new batch of classes will be launched in 2006 in all four territories.