Ndasi Elvis is the National Youth Leader of UNDP. He is currently in the USA to upgrade his understanding in world politics. It is evident that he is preparing himself for a post-Biya scenario.

However, joining him to the trip are 24 young Cameroonians who are entrepreneurs, youth leaders or public managers in their various communities. They have been selected to take part in the 2016 edition of the Young African leaders’ initiative, YALI, an initiative of US strongman, Barack Obama. The young Cameroonians will join others from 49 sub-Saharan African countries for a six-week sojourn in different cities across America.

Ndansi Elvis, founder and executive director of Unite for Health foundation clinic with branches in Yaounde, Ndop and Bamenda is one of them. He said the YALI otherwise known as the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African leaders is essentially for young leaders to exchange ideas and learn from what he described as the “mature democracy of the US.”

Asked how beneficial the US experience will be to him as a youth leader cum entrepreneur, Ndansi Elvis who stood the 2013 parliamentary elections on the ticket of the his NUDP party in the North West, said the exchanges will greatly help him in his approach in politics.

“Obama’s idea behind YALI is to bring forth a new generation of African leaders who believe in themselves and who can be able to provide solutions to African problems”, said Ndansi who’s also author of a book titled “gateway to politics’’

YALI in a nutshell

The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders which began in 2014 is the flagship program of President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) that empowers young people through academic coursework, leadership training, and networking.

In 2016, the Fellowship will provide 1,000 outstanding young leaders from Sub-Saharan Africa with the opportunity to hone their skills at a U.S. higher education institution with support for professional development after they return home.

The Fellows, who are between the ages of 25 and 35, have established records of accomplishment in promoting innovation and positive change in their organizations, institutions, communities, and countries. In 2015, Fellows represented all 49 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Fifty percent of Fellows were women; and for 76 percent of Fellows, it was their first experience spending substantial time in the United States.

To note that Each Mandela Washington Fellow takes part in a six-week academic and leadership Institute at a U.S. university or college in one of three tracks: Business and Entrepreneurship, Civic Leadership, or Public Management.

Upon returning to their home countries, YALI organisers say, Fellows are expected to continue to build the skills they have developed during their time in the United States through support from U.S. embassies, four Regional Leadership Centers, the YALI Network, and customized programming from USAID and affiliated partners..

By Mua Patrick