LEAP Africa, youth-focused leadership development and nonprofit organisation has opened regional offices in two geopolitical zones of Nigeria, a new feat.
The new offices are part of a bigger attempt to deepen the NGO’s work through collaboration with private, public and development sectors in the Northern and Southern parts of Africa’s most populous nation.
The Leadership, Effectiveness, Accountability, Professionalism (LEAP) Africa raises African leaders through the creation and deployment of customised programmes to equip youth with soft and life skills for leadership, entrepreneurship, employability and active citizenship
“Our work across Nigeria and Africa will support the realisation of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030” Femi Taiwo, executive director at LEAP Africa said.
The organisation is expanding its operations further into Northern Nigeria with the opening of a regional office in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja and extending its work in the Southern region through an office in Uyo, Akwa Ibom. This move is also strategic for the organisation.
Since inception in 2002, the 17-year old organisation has organised programmes targeting youth and entrepreneurs in the northern and southern part of Nigeria such as Bauchi, Kaduna, Kano, Port Harcourt, Calabar, Enugu and Taraba; and is emphatic on how its leadership programmes will target and benefit indigenes in these regions.
Taiwo says “through our strategic positioning in these regions, our programmes will reach more underserved communities and will further boost the work of the organization. We intend to consolidate efforts with bilateral organisations, corporations and collaborate across the sectors. We plan to scale up our flagship programmes and ensure it is reaching new communities in these areas.”
With footprint in West and East Africa, the youth-focused organisation is determined to secure more partnerships for development to foster the transition of more youth across Africa.
Currently working in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, LEAP Africa is presently implementing programmes for teachers and students in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi and Uganda. It commenced a Pan-African programme that will reach 700 classroom teachers and about 17000 scholars in the Mastercard Scholars Programme by the end of 2021.
