African heads of state, former leaders, and senior government and business officials are set to attend the Africa Mindset Reset Forum in Kigali on August 25–26.
The two-day gathering, hosted by the African School of Governance (ASG), aims to foster discussions on good governance, institutional strength, and a culture of execution necessary for the continent to achieve its development ambitions.
Prominent attendees include President Paul Kagame, co-founder of ASG; former Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, co-founder and Chair of ASG; Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama, founder and champion of the Accra Reset Initiative; and former Namibian First Lady Monica Geingos, founder and chairperson of Leadership Lab Yetu.
Also expected are former South African President Thabo Mbeki, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Nigerien Prime Minister Ibrahim Mayaki, and former Gambian Vice President Fatoumata Jallow Tambajang.
Other senior figures include Sidi Ould Tah, President of the African Development Bank; Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat; and Claver Gatete, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa.
The private sector will be represented by Acha Leke, Chairman for Africa at McKinsey & Company; Zouera Youssoufou, CEO of the Aliko Dangote Foundation; Yvonne Makolo, CEO of RwandAir; and Clare Akamanzi, CEO of NBA Africa.
The first day opens with a keynote by Mbeki titled “From Pan-Africanism to Meta-Africanism,” examining the mindset shifts Africa needs amid changing geopolitics and shrinking development financing. Kagame, Mahama, and Desalegn will then hold a deep-dive conversation on the forum theme, exploring the transition from historical Pan-African aspirations to practical “Meta-African action.”
The programme will spotlight initiatives to strengthen continental integration, including the African Open Skies Initiative, visa openness, an African sovereign credit rating agency, and the Rwanda Cooperation Initiative.
Intergenerational dialogues will examine institutional reforms, leadership choices, and execution needed to advance Africa’s integration agenda, including AfCFTA, the Single African Air Transport Market, visa openness, and sovereign credit ratings.
The second day focuses on stewardship of Africa’s natural resources and human capital development, and how these can translate into inclusive growth, productive industries, and dignified work for young people.
The agenda features home-grown solutions in food security, trade, philanthropy, sports, and Africa’s global narrative, plus a session titled “Africa Forward: A Conversation with Renowned Pan-Africanists and Thought Leaders” on turning shared purpose into practical action.
The forum concludes with a push to convert discussions into concrete commitments, institutional partnerships, and post-forum actions, including announcements on the African Sovereign Negotiations Programme, the Global Trust Forum, and the launch of ASG’s Centre on Mindsets and Home-Grown Solutions, the Meta-Africa Mindset Journal, and the Public Finance for Prosperity and Resilience Initiative.
The closing session will call for a mindset reset that moves beyond inspiration toward coordinated leadership, disciplined implementation, and sustained follow-through.
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