African Leadership Academy

The African Leadership Academy (ALA) is a residential, secondary institution located in the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is dedicated to 16 to 19-year-olds from Africa and the rest of the world, with alumni from 45 countries currently.

Founded in 2004 by Fred Swaniker, Chris Bradford, Peter Mombaur, and Acha Leke, ALA officially opened in September 2008 with an inaugural class of 97 students. ALA seeks to transform Africa by identifying, developing, and connecting the next generation of African leaders. To achieve this goal, ALA teaches a two-year curriculum in African Studies and Entrepreneurial Leadership, as well as the usual academic core subjects.

The founders of ALA, around 2004 launched Global Leadership Adventures, a summer program that would be a precursor to ALA.

In 2006, Swaniker and Bradford were recognized, by Echoing Green, who described them as two of the 15 best emerging social entrepreneurs in the world. In 2007 the initial campus was confirmed, and Christopher Khaemba was announced as the inaugural Dean of the School while the current dean is Hatim Eltayeb.

The campus is located in Honeydew, on the outskirts of Johannesburg. Students share a dormitory, and there are modern facilities including a sports field, 350 seater auditorium, classrooms and dining hall. In 2014, construction began on new dormitories that will allow ALA to increase new student numbers to 120 in 2016.

The African Leadership Academy receives several thousand applications during the first round, where approximately 400 are selected to attend Finalist events held across the continent. The finalists then write entrance exams, participate in group activities & are interviewed as 120 students will be selected to attend the Academy. Admissions status is usually finalized by mid-April.

The African Leadership Academy uses five criteria for admission:

The academic core combines a two year pre-university program based on the Cambridge A Levels and ALA’s unique curricula in Entrepreneurial Leadership, African Studies and Writing and Rhetoric. A Level.

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