Namibia’s Monica Geingos says Africa must stop exporting its talent

Speaking at the Leadership Lab Yetu inauguration in Kigali, Rwanda, on Saturday, Geingos, who is also the chairperson of the organisation, called for a fundamental shift in how the continent nurtures its future decision-makers.

The event also marked the official launch of the Dr Hage G Geingob Fellows under the Intergenerational Leadership Accelerator programme.

Over 250 programmes still look outward

Geingos highlighted a critical redundancy in the current landscape, noting that while over 250 leadership programmes focus on Africa, too many still rely on external venues and frameworks.

“If that means coalescing around institutions such as the Africa School of Governance, then that is the direction to take,” she said.

Geingos raised significant concerns regarding the sustainability of initiatives funded or directed from outside the continent.

With global geopolitical dynamics unpredictable, she warned that African development remains vulnerable when reliant on external donors.

“What happens when priorities shift, which we are seeing in real time, daily?” she asked, emphasising the need for African ownership to ensure longevity and relevance.

Bridging generational divides

Leadership Lab Yetu, a Kigali-based non-profit organisation, was established as a pan-African hub to bridge the divide between emerging and established leaders.

Implemented in partnership with the Africa School of Governance and the Rwanda ministry of youth and arts, the initiative aims to equip participants with essential skills and networks.

With over 60% of Africa’s population under the age of 25, according to recent demographic data, the continent faces both unprecedented opportunity and urgent challenges in harnessing its youth bulge.

Broken systems undermine training

Geingos, however, cautioned that training is futile if the systems receiving these leaders remain broken. She noted that when institutions are weak, visible talent often returns to environments where “power is personal and accountability negotiable”.

She specifically highlighted the systemic exclusion of marginalised groups and the difficulties young leaders face when entering established structures.

“Opportunity tends to favour the urban, the educated elite, leaving behind rural youth and linguistic minorities. We must fix this,” Geingos stressed. “I also want to quickly challenge the issue of absorption; it’s a central and silent gap that our systems often don’t know how to receive young leaders without humiliating them, isolating them, or tokenising them.”

Missing transmission mechanism

Geingos said Africa does not lack leaders but rather an enabling transmission belt through which to groom and deploy young leaders effectively. She called for objective measures of performance and success.

The inaugural Dr Hage G Geingob Fellows programme, named after Geingos’s late husband who served as Namibia’s president from 2015 until his death in February 2024, represents the organisation’s flagship effort to develop pragmatic leadership skills across media, politics, business and other sectors.

Africa has more than 400 million young people aged 15-35, according to African Union data, making it the world’s youngest continent. By 2030, young Africans are expected to constitute 42% of global youth, positioning the continent as critical to worldwide demographic and economic trends.