The Africa Leadership Initiative (ALI) East Africa Foundation last week named six Rwandans among its Fellows of the 2008 Class.

The awards were announced on April 25, 2008 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The ALI Fellowship is designed to capture the energy, the talent and the resolve of an emerging generation of leaders in Africa and to inspire them to move from success to significance by engaging in the foremost challenges of their countries and their times.

It brings together entrepreneurial executives and professionals under the age of 55 who have already achieved conspicuous success in their chosen fields. The new ALI Fellows in East Africa will meet four times over a two-year
period and will undertake individual community service commitments.

The Chairman of ALI East Africa Foundation, Ali Mufuruki, said that they were happy with the year’s 2008 class of executives.
"We are delighted with this year’s class of ALI Fellows, the second in East Africa since 2002,” Mufuruki said.

"The fellows represent our collective hope for a better future where community sense, ethics and values will play a central role in the executive decisions of those in whom we vest the power to lead, be it in business, politics or civil society”.

With all the leadership challenges that are playing out around us, in the region and all over the world, the launch of this class could not have occurred at a better time”, he added.
Those honored from Rwanda are Henry Gaperi, 46, Chief Executive Officer, The Social Security Fund of Rwanda, John Mirenge, 43, Managing Director, Electrogaz,Patrick Kabagema, 34, Managing Director, Rockglobal Consulting, Kigali
Richard Mugisha, 38, Founder and Managing Partner, Trust Law Chambers, Kigali,
Mutoni Kayihura, 37, Managing Director, Contact One Centre, Kigali and Monique Nsanzabaganwa, 37, Minister of Trade & Industry..
The Africa Leadership Initiative (ALI) is a non-profit organization which is a collaborative project of seven partner organizations in Africa and the United States.

The organization launched the first class of East African fellows in 2002 and currently there are some 200 African Fellows from Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda and now Rwanda.

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