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The African population is young. According to the World Economic Forum, the average age of the African population is 19 years old and rapidly decreasing – “The continent is growing so quickly that by halfway through this century, it will be home to one billion children. By 2050, two in every five children in the world will be born here”.

The FondjoGroup (the Group) believes African Youth to be the number ONE asset the continent has to close the economic gap with the rest of the world. Perhaps others are sharing that opinion including African educators who (should) have a huge role in preparing the next generation of African leaders through academic lectures and – hopefully – coaching and mentoring conversations.

In January 2022, the Group launched the Globe Trotter Initiative (GTI) to explore how mentoring and coaching are used (e.g. formal, informal, not at all) by academic actors to develop students on the African continent. Cameroon was the selected location due to familiarity with its educational system.

Planning phase (Jan to Oct 2022) – This period was used to fully scope the project; identify and make contact with academic institutions, and make travel arrangements. The focus in Cameroon was on career planning – “how academic institutions are preparing students beyond the traditional methods of teaching (e.g. lectures) to select proper paths to meaningful employment” – and more specifically understanding what: 1) academic institutions are doing beyond the traditional lecture approach to augment student employment attractability; 2) how mentoring and coaching are used by educators, and 3) the nature of the relationship between academic institutions and their alumni.

We hired a local resource to assist with planning activities. Despite best efforts, we were not successful in securing meetings with academic educators before traveling to Cameroon.

Execution (Nov 2022) – Once on the ground, we spent the first week contacting academic institutions and various individuals involved in personal development to set up in-person or virtual meetings. This was a challenge for a number of reasons (e.g. lack of response, scheduling conflicts, unreliable telecommunication network for virtual meetings, and poor transportation network to travel and meet in person). We managed to set up meetings in week 3 with 1) Madam MVondo Nadine from the Advanced School of Mass Communication (ASMC) responsible among other things for the Student Internship Program, and 2) Blaise Nyoti – a multi-dimension entrepreneur who offers personal development training sessions in Douala to youth and adults alike. We were also invited to the 17th annual Career Fair (for students in grades 11 and 12), organized by the Douala Rotary Club and Lycee Dominic Savio, to raise awareness on the importance of career planning and how mentors/coaches can help. Approximately 400 students from various local high schools attended the career fair. Thanks to Madam Nelly Bakang, President of Douala Rotary Club and members of her executive team (Mr. Keuko Richard and Mr. Yves Monkam) for the opportunities.

We traveled (week 2) to the western region (Nkongsamba, Bafang, and Bandja) for unannounced visits with high school principals from Saint Jeanne D’Arc, Institut Polyvalent Mitoukem (IPM), LeLe, and Saint Paul after failing to receive responses to our requests for meetings. We managed to meet with principals from IPM (Madam Gowi Helen), Saint Paul (Father Ngefi), and Yarouwa Kolengwoi, Head of Public Communications and Public of Nkongsamba Centre de Formation aux Metiers (CFM).

We did not find an institution with a structured mentoring or coaching program. However, all institutions reported that their educators use mentoring/coaching techniques to share knowledge, skills, and/or experience with students. None of the organizations interviewed have mechanisms or tools in place to enable mentoring relationships between their current and past students for long-term career movement. Most of these institutions at this moment don’t track the career progression of their alumni. ASMC is working on a digital platform for alumni relationship management. Career fairs and industry internships are effective tools that should be made available to all students to raise awareness on the types of employment or opportunities (for entrepreneurs) available in the world (with digital progress, a youth in Cameroon can work locally for a multinational in Dubai).

The students we met had tremendous potential. Some with big dreams and others were unsure of their career path. They ALL need to be empowered. Mentoring is helpful, however, proper coaching would be a game-changer. The difference between the two is not always well understood. With mentoring, students are provided with advice and sometimes even instructions. With coaching, students are NOT provided with advice. Coaching is about listening and asking powerful questions. Academic educators trained in coaching could methodically help students: articulate a clear goal and its importance, identify obstacles, challenge limiting beliefs, develop options, pick the best one and develop an action plan.

Our hope is that more students on the continent are offered proper coaching and mentoring opportunities to maximize their full potential. A special call-out to:

• Educators and academics in Africa to learn more about coaching and to look to develop skills/competencies to become effective coaches. There are several free online resources.
• Heads of academic institutions to create tools and mechanisms to manage relationships with alumni. Many are eager to support their alma mater (e.g. serving as mentors, etc…).
• African students to take charge of their own career planning and future.