On Tuesday 19 July 2022, the African Leadership University (ALU) opened doors to its third learning hub in Kigali, Rwanda. The Kigali learning hub is the third of its nature after the ongoing ALU Kampala Hub pop up hub in Uganda and the ended Nairobi Bao Box partnership pop up hub in Kenya. The learning hubs are a core element of ALU’s learning by doing philosophy and are meant to provide an ecosystem for students to learn, solve problems in communities and collaborate with each other and key community stakeholders.
The ALU Kigali hub launch ceremony marked a significant milestone in ALU’s five-year strategy announced last year based on the pillars of learning by doing, missions not majors, and accessibility of education. Some of the guests who graced the ALU Kigali Hub launch included ALU’s founder and board chairman, Fred Swaniker, President of the MasterCard Foundation Reeta Roy, CEO of the MFK Group, Faustin Mbundu, students, staff, alumni, parents and key Rwandan community stakeholders.
Housed in downtown Kiyovu, at Sanlam Towers, the ALU Kigali hub will place students in close proximity to the challenges and opportunities in communities in Rwanda and the rest of the globe. An emphasis on hands-on learning, innovative problem solving, entrepreneurial thinking and cross sectoral collaboration with community leaders will equip ALU students with skills to build lifelong relationships and impactful engagements in their immediate communities.
“We believe strongly that by empowering the students to take ownership of their learning, by bringing them closer to the systems they intend to effect change in, and by distributing our pan-African community across various cities in Africa and elsewhere, we are effectively preparing them for the real world,” said Veda Sunassee, Chief Executive Officer of African Leadership University (ALU) and African Leadership College (ALC).
Speaking at the launch, ALU founder and board chairman, Fred Swanicker, added that, “The idea of hubs is to have spaces where students can come together in small groups, a place with internet, electricity, and other infrastructure, and learn without going to the campus. In the hub, they can network and be close to communities and employers.”
ALU’s learning hubs facilitate situated learning, missions driven learning, social learning and community building. ALU plans to launch more learning hubs in key African cities, Europe and the US. One such hub will be launched in Silicon Valley, California later this year.
