In the international arena, there is widespread recognition that leadership skills are crucial for individual and organizational success and wealth creation. As a result, over the past twenty years, numerous leadership institutes and centers have emerged to support entrepreneurs and managers in the private sector as well as youth in various spheres of development. Unfortunately, Africa continues to lag behind in this area.

Leadership, Effectiveness, Accountability & Professionalism (LEAP) Africa was established by Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli in May 2002 to fill this important gap. Ndidi recognized that the business community and youth in Africa had limited exposure to effective leadership skills, and majority had received minimal coaching. Reflecting on the impact of leadership training programs and coaching programs in the international arena, she believed that African entrepreneurs and enterprising youth would benefit from the same support systems.

As a result, LEAP Africa’s Mission is to inspire, empower and equip a new cadre of leaders in Africa. LEAP offers leadership training programmes and coaching services for young people, the business community and social entrepreneurs. It is committed to equipping these groups with the skills, tools and support that they require to serve as change agents in society. LEAP also conducts research on leadership in Africa and provides leadership awards to youth.

Since its inception in May 2002, LEAP has focused on building its knowledge base, industry networks and experience. It has successfully participated in a range of capacity building efforts for entrepreneurs and young leaders in Africa through projects for the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation in Rwanda, and the Harvard Business School. In addition, it has successfully launched its leadership programmes for business owners, social entrepreneurs and youth in Aba, Abuja, Benin, Enugu, Ibadan, Kano, Lagos and Port -Harcourt in collaboration with non-profit and leading financial institutions in Nigeria. These programmes have enhanced the life and leadership skills of over 2,800 youth and business owners. LEAP has also trained over 10,000 participants.
LEAP has also pioneered training on ethics, through its Integrity Institute, offered in five Nigerian cities. Our core programmes are funded by Ford Foundation, Citigroup Foundation, Nokia and the World Bank and are supported by many Nigerian organizations.
In addition, LEAP invested in continuous research on leadership developments in Africa. This research serves as the basis for our innovative curriculum. To date, LEAP has published the following books: Defying the Odds: Case Studies of Nigerian Organization that have survived Generations, Get on Board: A Practical Guide to Building High Impact Boards of Directors in Nigeria, Rage for Change: A Guide for Young People who desires to Make a difference and Building a Culture of Ethics: A Practical Guide for African leaders in the public, private and nonprofit sectors.

Given its commitment to raising a new generation of African leaders, LEAP Africa partnered with the Aspen Institute, Databank Foundation (Ghana) and Technoserve to launch the Africa Leadership Initiative (ALI) West Africa, an initiative that seeks to develop a new generation of community-spirited leaders in Ghana and Nigeria. In addition, LEAP, in collaboration with the African Leadership Institute launched the Nigeria 2025 Project, designed to develop a series of scenarios on how Nigeria could evolve in the future.