Baobab Summit 2019

Courage, Connection, Creativity

The event has ended.

An annual gathering of next-generation African leaders, the Baobab Summit connects and empowers Mastercard Foundation Scholars. Scholars have a deep personal commitment to changing the world around them and improving the lives of their families, communities, and countries.

In 2019, more than 250 Scholars convened in Kigali, Rwanda to build community, grow their networks, and equip themselves with the skills they need to play a transformative role in their communities, countries, and continent. By collaborating, these bright young leaders are multiplying their efforts to create a collective force for change and progress around the world.

The Summit’s 2019 themes were courage, connections, and creativity. Scholars spent three days exploring:

Courage: Courage is an essential element to personal and societal change. It takes courage to motivate others towards a common goal and equally its needed  to be a follower acting with integrity and holding leaders accountable.

Connection: How can we practice courage to reach out to groups who are very different from us, but who’s underlying values are similar to our own? We live in a world where we are able to connect physically and virtually and need to understand how to leverage it for sustainable change.

Creativity: The most innovative creations know how to bridge design and style with functionality and as the most youthful Continent, the World’s next great ideas may come from it. We will tap into the histories, traditional patterns, and colours of our communities to create new businesses, organizations, and stories.

Scholars explored how these themes can manifest in day-to day-actions to empower others, challenge norms, and defy expectations. Although the 2019 Summit has ended, but the conversations about transformative leadership continue.

View Highlights from the 2019 Baobab Summit

View the Youth Panel Discussion on Life After Graduation: Finding Success