ALU had the unique opportunity to welcome both The President of Ghana, His Excellency John Mahama and the Deputy Prime Minister of Mauritius, Xavier-Luc Duval to its flagship campus in Mauritius yesterday where they officially inaugurated ALU.
The ceremony marked an important milestone in ALU’s journey towards providing world-class tertiary education on the African continent and developing the next generation of African leaders. “I am deeply passionate about Africa and believe that good leadership is the key to the continent’s development,” said ALU’s Founder, Fred Swaniker in his welcome address. Through education, ALU will groom young leaders and equip them with the skills to make an impact in their communities.
According to His Excellency John Mahama, education today should not be theoretical or grammatical, but should provide transformational and entrepreneurial training that makes the graduate innovative and able to think outside the box.
“Education remains the key driver to resolving the challenge of poverty not only across the world but particularly in Africa. But not any kind of education. When we talk about education, we talk about transformational education. Education that will prepare the graduate to tackle the practical challenges of the communities in which they find themselves,” he said.
Mauritius has a goal to become an education hub for high quality tertiary institutions making the island an ideal place for ALU to host its flagship campus. ALU’s arrival on the island has been a warm and welcome one and we are excited to be partnering with a country whose vision is so well aligned with our own.
The Deputy Prime Minister highlighted that Africa’s people are its most important resource and must be supported through education.“We understand that true sustainable development doesn’t come necessarily with natural resources. But it comes with human development,” he said. “It’s a fortuitous event that with the official visit of the President of Ghana, we also have in the same week, the opening of a quality college by a Ghanaian,” he added.
His Excellency John Mahama is currently on a state visit to Mauritius to strengthen bilateral cooperation between Ghana and Mauritius.
ALU’s vision is to transform Africa through its most untapped resource, its youth and will create 25 new tertiary institutions across Africa, with the first campus opening in Mauritius in a few months. ALU will be known locally as African Leadership College (ALC). Campuses in Kenya, Nigeria and Rwanda will follow in the next few years.
