Young Namibian Leaders Head to US

Nine young Namibian leaders have been selected to represent Namibia at the upcoming Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) in the United States in June.

The programme brings together 500 young leaders to spur growth, strengthen democratic governance and enhance peace and security across the African continent every year. It was launched in 2010 by US president Barack Obama with the aim of supporting young African leaders in leadership training, academic coursework and mentoring.

Namibia has identified nine young leaders from 600 applications who are between the ages of 25 and 35. They are Petrina Auino, Piet Carstens, Gregory Feris, Elizabeth Hamupembe, Tomas Kalimbo, Rachel Kalipi, Paskaline Ngunaihe, Beata Shemuvalula and Fransina Shivute.

During the six week intensive academic and leadership programme, the participants will interact with other participants from various African countries and will even get the opportunity to share a word or two with President Obama at a Presidential Summit in Washington.

Throughout their stay in the US, they will be attached to different universities that relate to the tracks of Business and Entrepreneurship, Public Management, and Civil Leadership.

One of the participants, 26-year-old Paskaline Nganaihe said, “I am looking forward to learning how we young people can develop in business communication. Also, I want to link up with different women’s organisations and see how we can work together.”

Commenting on the selection was Acting Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy in Namibia, Priscilla Hernandez, who stated that all the selected participants are already established leaders in their field of interest.

“President Obama has a vision of young leaders. My job was just to identify these potential leaders. I believe they will come and share with us their experience when they return,” she said.