"Whenever you have leaders who have vision and can back the vision with execution, amazing things will happen."

The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders is the flagship program of the U.S. Government’s Young African Leaders Initiative, also known as YALI . Since 2014, the Mandela Washington Fellowship has brought nearly 6,500 young leaders from every country in Sub-Saharan Africa to the United States for academic and leadership training. These Fellows, are between the ages of 25 and 35, and are accomplished innovators and leaders in their communities and countries.

One of them is Olugbenga Ogunbowale. He completed the YALI West Africa program in 2018, was a 2019 Mandela Washington Fellow and an Alumni Ambassador in 2020. Since then, he's set up ventures like Grant Master, helping secure over $30 million in grant funding for clients and students. He also set up  Epower, where he  consulted with Meta and Google on digital skills, training SMEs and start-ups in Nigeria and Ghana. Dimpho Lekgeu spoke to him about his experience with the YALI program to draw out some valuable lessons for young Africans looking to supercharge their careers.

Plus: The hardest thing about living in the USA

🌟 IN THIS EPISODE:

2:39 Rejected four times

6:09 YALI success

8:09 The self-discovery test

10:55 The power of feedback

13:45 No country is perfect

16:56 Advice for funding applications

26:29 Start with what you have

💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

"Whenever you have leaders who have vision and can back the vision with execution, amazing things will happen."

"Feedback is the food of champions."

"It's when you have the receipts, that you can be given a seat."

🌍 ABOUT LIMITLESS AFRICA

The podcast that asks how Africans and Americans can work together for shared prosperity

Every Monday: 15-minute episodes that dive into an issue that matters to Africans

Every Thursday: extended interview with someone unlocking Africa's limitless potential

➕ WANT MORE?

Adam Grant on the skills African entrepreneurs need to succeed https://trueafrica.co/article/podcast/adam-grant-on-the-skills-that-african-entrepreneurs-need-to-succeed/

Is venture capital the right choice for African start-ups? https://trueafrica.co/article/podcast/is-venture-capital-the-right-choice-for-african-start-ups/

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Find out more about Olugbenga Ogunbowale https://gbengaogun.com/

Limitless Africa is sponsored by the US Department of State and the Seenfire Foundation.

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