The Nkafu Policy Institute, a think tank of the Denis & Lenora Foretia Foundation, will host its 2025 Think Tank Week from August 4-8, 2025, bringing together emerging leaders, seasoned executives, and policy practitioners for five days of intensive capacity building at the Djeuga Palace Hotel in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
This initiative brings a three-tier approach to leadership development, integrating youth empowerment, executive training, and high-level policy dialogue into a cohesive experience. The program recognises that effective policy change requires investment across all levels of leadership – from emerging voices to experienced institutional leaders.
Kicking off the Think Tank Week is the Emerging Leaders Program (August 4-6), where 20 carefully selected young Cameroonians will participate in intensive leadership training focused on “Driving Impact.” Participants will develop skills in strategic communication, policy analysis, and community mobilisation while building professional networks that extend beyond the program.
Running concurrently, the Executive and Strategic Leadership Program (August 5-6) addresses practical challenges facing organisational leaders in today’s complex environment. Twenty-five think tank and civil society executives from across Central Africa will engage in specialised training on crisis management, sustainable funding strategies, and adaptive leadership necessary for effective operations.
Concluding the week is the third edition of the Central Africa Think Tank Forum (August 7-8), bringing together over 150 participants in focused dialogue on “Shaping the Future: Role of Think Tanks and Civil Society in Central Africa Policy Processes.” This forum creates opportunities for evidence-based policy development while strengthening partnerships between civil society, government, and international development partners.
The integrated design ensures that insights and relationships developed during the earlier programs inform the broader regional dialogue, while emerging leaders gain exposure to high-level policy discussions typically reserved for senior practitioners.
This initiative reflects the Nkafu Policy Institute’s commitment to developing practical solutions to governance challenges while building sustainable institutions capable of supporting long-term democratic and economic progress.
All programming takes place at the Djeuga Palace Hotel in Yaoundé, providing an environment for intensive learning, strategic networking, and collaborative problem-solving across generations and sectors.
About the Nkafu Policy Institute
The Nkafu Policy Institute is a nonpartisan, independent think tank of the Denis & Lenora Foretia Foundation in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Its mission is to provide independent, in-depth, and insightful policy recommendations that advance the Cameroonian economy and the economies of other sub-Saharan African countries. Nkafu works to advance public policies that help all Africans prosper in free, fair, and sustainable economies.
About the Denis and Lenora Foretia Foundation
The Denis and Lenora Foretia Foundation was established to catalyse Africa’s economic transformation by focusing on social entrepreneurship, science and technology, innovation, public health, and progressive policies that create economic opportunities for all. The foundation works in partnership with local governments, policy makers, private enterprises, civil society organisations, as well as development partners to expand the resources available to entrepreneurs, farmers, and small business owners, in addition to improving individual livelihoods.
The Denis and Lenora Foretia Foundation is a charitable, not-for-profit organisation that relies on donations and Board support. We receive donations from hundreds of individuals around the world, as well as institutional grants, project grants and gifts. The Foundation is in consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
