Africa's new class of power players
Page 1 of 6
By
Danna Harman
| Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Every year Africa's best and brightest leave their cities and villages for Harvard or McGill University or the London School of Economics. Some are children of privilege. Some are hand-picked by private foundations or donor nations, casting their nets for the next generation of African leaders. Others are sent by parents who have sacrificed for years to send their offspring abroad.
Far from home, they sit through ethics classes, study theories of democracy, pore over law books, use state-of-the-art medical equipment, and talk about coming home and making a difference.
Yet on the planet's poorest and most war-torn continent, there remains a leadership deficit. Why?
The Monitor spoke with more than a dozen of Africa's promising young leaders who studied in the West - from the head of Botswana's revolutionary AIDS program to the founder of Africa's biggest Internet company to a possible future president of Kenya - about their choice to return home. We asked them about giving up a life of comfort for a life of contribution, what obstacles they face, and what they are doing to break the continent's cycle of dysfunction.
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A graceful concession
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COMING HOME: Africa's emerging power players
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KENYATTA
Possibly Kenya's next president
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MAKATIANI
Launched Africa's biggest Internet company
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KAYOMBA
Founded an independant newspaper in Rwanda
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DARKOH
Leads Botswana's free AIDS-drug program
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BRUKTAWAIT
Started Ethiopia's largest private bank
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TSELE
General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches
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Q&A: The higher education equation in Africa's development
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