The Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Professor Samuel Kwaku Bonsu, has affirmed his administration’s support for the YALI Regional Leadership Center West Africa, Accra. This, Prof. Bonsu added, was as a result of his “support for YALI from the sides” as he associates with youth, a reason for which he considers YALI a priority in his new position at GIMPA.
Prof. Samuel Bonsu said this during a courtesy call on the USAID Mission Director for West Africa, Mr. Daniel Moore. The visit, which is Prof. Bonsu’s first official meeting outside GIMPA in his capacity as Rector, was to find new ways through which GIMPA could collaborate with USAID West Africa for the benefit of the YALI Regional Leadership Center West Africa, Accra.
Prof. Samuel Bonsu (second right) interacts with the USAID Mission Director
Prof. Bonsu iterated his commitment to a fruitful and strong working partnership between GIMPA and USAID to ensure the Accra RLC continues its mandate of training more young Africans.
Mr. Daniel Moore, on his part, welcomed Prof. Bonsu on the Rector’s first official visit to the USAID West Africa Mission, describing it as an honor. Mr. Moore then outlined the tremendous success of the Accra RLC since its inception in 2016. Mr. Moore indicated that investing in young people is “one of the best ways the United States can invest in Africa.” This accounted for why the YALI program has been sustained over time by different US administrations and will continue to be a priority activity of the current administration. The Mission, according to Mr. Moore, was therefore doing its best to bring other partners on board to assist the Center.
The Mission Director was full of hope that the Accra RLC will feature prominently on the radar of the new GIMPA administration and assured of his willingness to collaborate with the new administration in the coming years.
Mr. Daniel Moore welcomes Prof. Bonsu to the USAID West Africa Mission
The Project Director of the YALI RLC West Africa, Accra, Dr. Shola Safo-Duodu, gave an overview of the initiative so far, adding that the project has so far been implemented successfully. COVID-19, according to the Director, has had an impact on the Center’s work but due to the RLC’s advancement in IT, it was able to continue work on its training deliverables online. The Director also expressed her gratitude to USAID for funding the establishment of the Learning Management System (LMS) platform for YALI Africa, a harmonization of the activities of all four YALI RLCs across Africa. The LMS platform is currently hosting the first ever Africa Wide Cohort of 225 participants from the RLCs in Accra, Dakar and Nairobi. The LMS platform will also host the joint recruitment platform to synergize recruitment across all four RLCs.
The Project Director also outlined efforts by the Accra RLC to bring more partners on board to provide varied levels of support to the Center in a bid to assist the RLC meet its targets. These efforts were curtailed by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Project Director was hopeful that with USAID’s support, more partners will be reached and brought on board to support the project. This, the Project Director said, was necessary because YALI is “a rich and rewarding investment in young people hence there is the need for more support to train more young people.”
The meeting had in attendance David Kamau, YALI Regional Coordinator and Bettina Boateng, Senior Supervisory Regional Development Outreach and Communications Specialist both of USAID West Africa. Prof. Bonsu’s entourage comprised Dr. Shola Safo-Duodu, Project Director at YALI Regional Leadership Center West Africa, Accra, Mr. Kwame Prempeh, immediate past Director of Hospitality at GIMPA and member of the YALI RLC Accra Governing Council and James Anquandah, Corporate Affairs and Institutional Advancement Manager at the YALI RLC Accra.
