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Who We Are

About Us

We are on a mission to transform Africa through innovative, efficient, moral, and value-driven leadership.

Ubuntu Leadership Education for Development Initiative (ULEDi) is a non-governmental organization that is empowering young Africans with leadership education and skills positioning them to solve Africa’s development problems in different spheres of influence.

It has been estimated that by 2050, one in four people in the world will be African. This is how fast the population, especially the youth population in Africa is growing. With an understanding that Africa’s young people are the continent’s greatest potential, we are committed to ensuring that many of these young Africans turn out to be leaders void of inefficiency and corruption. Through campaigns, trainings, workshops and conferences, we are providing African youths with moral and value-based leadership training that will shape them into transformational leaders who create solutions in the most ethical, efficient, and inclusive ways.

Our Vision

We envision a progressive and powerful Africa where everyone intentionally and actively contributes to transforming the continent.

Our Mission

Our mission is to empower young Africans with innovative, efficient, moral, and value-based leadership skills to transform Africa across different spheres of influence.

Our Story

With Africa’s fast-growing youth population, she believes that African youths should be equipped with relevant leadership skills that will position them to create the change that should be seen in Africa. Ubuntu Leadership Education for Development Initiative (ULEDi), previously known as Africa Raisers Initiative was founded by Omolewa Shobogun in 2020 out of her passion to see a transformed Africa. In 2018, Omolewa volunteered in a presidential campaign team in Nigeria. She had joined other volunteers nationwide mainly because of the leadership and nation-building capacities the candidate had displayed in the past. As her volunteer role involved one-on-one political education of prospective voters, she spoke with individuals about the need for citizens’ inclusion in governance, particularly through voting. Through this experience, she realized that many young people had lost hope and so, cared less about the future of Nigeria and indeed, of Africa.

Many of the young persons she interacted with, around the ages of 19 to 26 maintained that they were not going to get their Permanent Voter’s Card, hence they would not vote.
“Why?”
“The election would be rigged after all, so it doesn’t matter whether I vote or not”, they often replied.
So, what do you think can be done about this? She would ask.
“Nothing, I’m just going to hustle to survive and live fine. Nigeria is a lost cause.”

There, Omolewa identified a leadership gap. This experience and some of her previous experiences working with young people at the grassroots in Nigeria convinced her that this gap must be bridged. She was convinced that to combat the challenges of inefficiency and corruption in Africa’s leadership structure, young people must be trained in relevant leadership skills that will equip them to solve the problems of development in Africa.

At ULEDi, we subscribe to the Ubuntu principle, “I am because you are”. We are committed to raising leaders who are committed to their communities, countries, and the continent. We are committed to raising transformational leaders who will always solve problems in the most ethical, efficient, and inclusive ways possible.

Our Values

Innovation

There are many problems that the African continent is battling. Some of them are peculiar to a few countries while others are common to many countries. Some of these problems have existed for a long time while others are beginning to surface in recent times. What is common to these problems is their solvability. Africa does not need more external innovators; Africa needs more of her people (especially the youth) to become innovators. We are training and positioning young Africans to develop innovative and enterprising solutions to Africa’s challenges.

Leadership

Leadership We are very clear in our stand that leadership is not a position. We believe that leadership entails identifying a problem and mobilizing resources in the most ethical, efficient, and inclusive way possible. We also believe that character is a major component of leadership. For us, without character and integrity, leadership will not achieve its purpose. While some assume that leadership is innate, we believe that leadership can be learned and inculcated. We are therefore committed to providing moral and value-based leadership education to young Africans to empower them to contribute positively to the development of Africa in their spheres of influence, whether they have a position or not.

Civic Responsibility

We are raising responsible leaders who are accountable to their communities, countries, and the continent. “I am because you are”, a saying which is at the very core of the Ubuntu principle emphasizes the role of community and our responsibilities as members of these communities. We believe that when leaders lead by putting the interest of others first, Africa and indeed the world will be a better place, void of corruption, inefficiency, and other vices that currently pull the continent backward.

African Development

Our goal is to see Africa developed. We want to see a more united, interconnected, powerful, prosperous, and progressive Africa emerge. We believe the greatest gift God has given Africa to become all of these is her people. We are working to develop these people.