ACC 2025 Unites African Youth to Drive Change Under Ubuntu Leadership
Nairobi hosted over 1,000 youth leaders, policymakers, and development partners on Wednesday as CorpsAfrica launched its 2025 All-Country Conference (ACC 2025) under the theme Leading with Ubuntu: African Youth Transforming the Continent.
The five-day summit, held at the Kenya School of Government, aims to amplify the role of youth in shaping grassroots-led development and reframe volunteerism as a strategic driver of Africa’s socio-economic transformation.
Speaking at the opening, CorpsAfrica Founder and CEO Liz Fanning emphasized the need to invest in youth leadership rooted in community-driven change. “Africa’s youth are not a problem to be solved they are the solution,” she said.
“At a time when Africa’s youth are calling for meaningful opportunities and a voice in shaping their future, we stand firm in our belief that they are the solution,” Added Liz Fanning. “Our vision is to cultivate a generation of African leaders rooted in community and committed to sparking sustainable change from the grassroots up.”
The conference calls on African governments to institutionalize youth volunteerism within national development plans, linking it to employment, civic engagement, and education.
Highlighting Kenya’s 38percent youth unemployment rate alongside South Africa’s 46 percent and Nigeria’s 42 percent speakers urged a paradigm shift from aid dependency to homegrown, inclusive investment in youth potential.
Since 2011, CorpsAfrica has deployed over 1,000 African volunteers to rural communities, spearheading more than 10,500 social initiatives and 425 grassroots projects that have impacted nearly two million lives. From clean water access to youth entrepreneurship, these efforts are grounded in Indigenous knowledge and human-centered design.
CorpsAfrica’s Chief of Programs, Dr. Samora Otieno, described the work as “not just projects, but platforms for transformation.”
The Kenyan government reaffirmed support for youth innovation. Cabinet Secretary for Youth Affairs, Salim Mvurya, said, “Africa’s youth want jobs, not handouts; action, not promises. CorpsAfrica shows what’s possible when we trust young people to lead.”
By positioning volunteerism as a professional pathway, CorpsAfrica is redefining service as a tool for dignity, opportunity, and African-led development one village at a time.
All-Country CorpsAfrica Conference 2025 Kicks Off in Nairobi with Focus on Youth-Led Development
