On Tuesday, September 23, 2025, the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding between the African Training and Research Centre in Administration for Development (CAFRAD) and the African Leadership Excellence Academy (AFLEX) of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia took place, marking the beginning of a major collaboration between the two institutions. Both organizations are committed to developing a new generation of African leaders—leaders who are confident, autonomous, and resilient.

The shared vision behind this strategic partnership is to prepare current and emerging public leaders and administrators to transform Africa through joint initiatives, research, and capacity-building programs that promote innovative best practices tailored to the real needs of beneficiaries and aligned with global challenges.

The objective of this alliance between African institutions is to promote excellence in public administration, modernize governance, and advance training, research, and capacity-building to improve the performance of both public and private sectors, while supporting sustainable development across African states. This initiative seeks to strengthen Africa’s agency—still marginalized in global geopolitics—and position African intelligence as the engine of innovation and the source of solutions to the continent’s sustainable development challenges.

This strategic alliance between CAFRAD and AFLEX thus represents a decisive step in building an African future rooted in Afro-African competence, indigenous knowledge, cooperation, and a strong commitment to progress. By combining their expertise and resources, the two institutions aim to build a pan-African ecosystem of excellence where African talents can thrive, innovate, and sustainably transform their societies.

More than a simple agreement, this partnership embodies a shared ambition to anchor Africa in a dynamic of intellectual sovereignty and transformational leadership, for the benefit of present and future generations.

Following the signing, an online event will soon be organized to celebrate the union of these two African institutions. This symbolic moment will mark the official launch of an ambitious partnership, resolutely focused on concrete action and on-the-ground engagement, in service of the continent’s development and transformation.