Ugandan student Hakim Nakaana Kakooza is among the 14 students from the African Leadership University (ALU) who have participated in the fourth annual Silicon Valley Global Leadership Programme — a transformative, month-long trip designed to nurture entrepreneurial leadership and technological expertise. The programme, hosted at Stanford University and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, connects ALU students with top-tier innovators, founders, and thought leaders across Silicon Valley’s tech ecosystem.
“It’s so exciting bringing insights from Silicon Valley back to our ventures and refining our practices through collaboration with global tech leaders,” Kakooza said in a press statement. “I’m grateful to Carnegie Foundation, ALU, and our partners at Stanford University for the opportunity to partake in this experience.”
Kakooza is a final-year BSc Entrepreneurial Leadership student at ALU’s ALX Uganda campus and Founder & CEO of MariTest, an AI-powered, non-invasive malaria diagnostic platform democratizing access to quality healthcare in under-resourced African communities.
In May, the students stayed at Menlo College, experiencing life at the heart of San Francisco and Los Angeles. Among the top talent hosting the students were Sara Spangelo, CEO and Co-Founder of Swarm (SpaceX); Tim Knowles, President of the Carnegie Foundation; Asena McKeown, Stanford affiliate; and Nick McKeown, Founder of Nicira Networks. These experts led discussions, hosted socials, and delivered masterclasses in entrepreneurship and technology.
Their exciting schedule immersed them in innovative workshops and sessions delivered by the ALU Office of Entrepreneurship at the prestigious Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Students gained valuable insights into the cutting-edge world of tech through visits to Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Coursera, X, and Universal Studios, along with leadership sessions led by entrepreneurs and experts shaping the future of artificial intelligence, sustainability, and global policy.
Each student was paired with a personal mentor from Silicon Valley and participated in critical networking sessions with professionals from Stanford, the Lucile Packard Foundation, and other leading global institutions. Having already built a relationship with their mentors through online discussions, students were welcomed into these hubs of innovation to grow their partnerships and expand their networks.
“Projections suggest Africa is poised to connect another 500 million users through digital transformation and unlock an estimated US$170 billion in GDP by 2030,” Veda Sunassee, CEO of ALU, said in a press statement. “In line with ALU’s mission to train the next leaders of Africa, we must cultivate leaders who understand both the scale and the impact of this shift.”
Sunassee adds, “Underscoring our commitment to hands-on learning, our Silicon Valley Global Leadership Programme immerses students in the cutting-edge strategies and ethical frameworks needed to drive inclusive growth and bridge the connectivity gap across the continent.”
Students participated in engineering challenges at Microsoft’s campus, immersed themselves in fireside chats with venture capitalists and Stanford lecturers, and partook in themed discussions at the Claremont Country Club on Africa’s role in global innovation. They travelled to UC Berkeley for a session on Startup Intellectual Property with Matt Rapoport, Executive Director at Wells Fargo — learning how to identify, protect, and leverage patents and trademarks before taking a campus tour.
Back at the Carnegie Foundation, they attended leadership seminars and a generative-AI workshop that challenged them to grapple with the ethics and social impact of emerging technologies.
The programme comes as US technology giants are increasingly demonstrating their commitment to Africa’s digital economy. Google has opened its first African AI research lab in Ghana, and IBM maintains R&D facilities in Kenya and South Africa to tap into local talent and develop solutions tailored to diverse climates and markets. With Africa projected to account for one in five people globally by 2050 and its innovation hubs emerging as proving grounds for ethical, scalable technologies, this two-way partnership underscores the continent’s pivotal role in shaping the future of the digital economy.
The Silicon Valley Global Leadership Programme forms part of ALU’s broader vision to develop three million entrepreneurial African leaders by 2035. Through strategic partnerships, immersive experiences, and real-world projects, ALU is equipping the continent’s youth with the tools to tackle complex challenges and launch high-impact ventures. To date, ALU alumni have created over 340 ventures, raised nearly US$141 million in funding, and generated more than 52,000 jobs.
This is the fourth cohort of students to take part in the Global Leadership Programme, hosted in partnership with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, a US-based education policy and research centre. In addition to Silicon Valley, ALU runs learning hubs in Addis Ababa, Kampala, Lagos, and Nairobi.
This year’s cohort included promising changemakers from Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Uganda, each with their own set of bold ventures and commitments to social impact across fields such as education, health, energy, and digital equity. The rest of the talented cohort consists of Audry Ashleen Chivanga, Paul Dominion Ladi, Theodora Ngozi Egbunike, Stanley Chidubem Anigbogu, Branice Kazira Otiende, Yvone Khavesta, Don Daniel Mikenze, Sarabel Akinyi Odero, Maliha Mehboob Sumar, Oliver Itangisha, Lavender Birike Otieno, Barisua Nsaanee, and Zaki Asen.
