This report is the result of a partnership between the African Leadership Institute’s Project Pakati and the African Union Office of the Youth Envoy, funded by the Ford Foundation. ‘Pakati’ is a Bantu word in languages spoken by the Zulu, Ndebele and Shona peoples of Southern Africa. It means the ‘centre’ and aptly captures the essence and objective of this collaborative effort which is to shift young African leaders to the centre of governance and make them more visible in Africa’s development trajectory.