As I reminisce about my NextGen experience, which began just over a year ago, I remember the excitement, anxiousness & hope rushing through my mind all at once. The excitement of spending 6 weeks in a new country where I would receive training in a field, I had always dreamed of working in, anxious about starting a new role and hopeful at the mere thought of making an impact within Africa. 

Post a total of 4 interview rounds, I finally found myself, alongside 3 of my South African colleagues, a part of AFG’s third NexGen cohort. We travelled to Ghana for a six-week training programme where we got first-hand training & insight as to what it takes to be part of a dynamic team helping to build Africa. We spent our days encapsulating the knowledge from the different training sessions led by AFG’s leadership and other experienced foresighters and we spent our evenings and weekends exploring the region, laughing ourselves silly and having deep meaningful conversations about our lives, experiences and what keeps us up at night.  

Shortly after I returned to SA when the training came to an end, I was staffed on my first engagement – an organizational design mission for one of Nigeria’s fastest growing FinTechs. The rest is history.  

I had always identified myself as a generalist – mostly because my curiosity has never aided in my ability to narrow down a single segment of speciality, and boy has this experience fuelled my curious streak beyond measure! 

Over and above facilitating various growth opportunities, the greatest experience AFG has facilitated for me would be the opportunity to work alongside various foresighters from dynamic academic backgrounds, walks of life and experience thresholds. My interaction from each and every team member has equipped me with skills and experiences that I will carry along with me for the rest of my career. 

As Marianne Williamson once said, “our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us” – stronger together we are, and together we will continue to shine our light and uplift our continent that is Africa.