Written by The WWLA Founders
Edited by Michelle Mocumbi
On May 25, 2026, we gathered virtually to celebrate Africa Day, reflect on the We Will Lead Africa (WWLA) journey to-date, and dream together. We time-travelled 10 years into the future to May 2036. Then, we circled back to May 2027 to imagine what would have happened at our Africa Day in-person gathering next year to enable an accelerated and amplified dream for our community in those 10 years. Thank you to all of you – contributors across our past volumes, editorial team members, and even current/future contributors to our volumes in progress – for gathering!
‘I didn’t even know it was Africa Day, to be honest. So I’m glad that I came into this space and now I am aware and informed. So I’m grateful. And the music was elevating for lack of a better word. You know, the feeling was just elevating. It was amazing.’
We started the gathering by asking ourselves: what does African joy mean to you? Several answers came up:
- Knowing who I am and how we can enjoy our culture
- Community, resilience, hope
- Looks like freedom
- Drums and rhythm
- Being in community, dancing, uninhibited
- The smell and sounds of an African morning … birds, call to prayer and even the frustrating sounds of a broken faucet
- Eye contact right from the airport
- The feeling of home
This joy then grounded and uplifted us as we looked back, to look forward.
Looking back
The story of founding WWLA is one that began with discomfort. The three of us co-founders shared reflections to the group about how we first met at a leadership conference where Black/African leadership was invisible. Leadership was spoken of devoid of Africa and Africans and devoid of the contributions of black peoples in the diaspora, as if we were just there to consume everybody else’s leadership story.
We were unhappy being in a space where there was zero recognition for the Afrocentric leadership sources we draw on, in addition to the Western leadership and organization development theories we had learned, taught, and practised professionally. We realized we were all of Africa and from Africa and wanted to share broader stories of Africa and African leadership. We chose to act.
From that moment, which started with a mere 15-minute conversation, we met regularly over Skype back then (RIP Skype!) to explore what we wanted to do. We decided on three things.
First, we will never exhaust the universe of possibilities in terms of what is needed to uplift African leadership. We chose storytelling as our thread to uplift everyday African leaders across the continent and diaspora. Leaders who are not giving up on our collective story and who are actively doing things for the progress of Africa and Africans.
Second, we are the creators and owners of our own stories. For far too long, we have been sold the narrative that we are not: that we have no history; that our identities and our cultures are not worth uplifting; that they are uncivilized; that they do not contribute to the development of the world; and so on. What we do at WWLA is to challenge that, simply by telling our real, everyday, current stories – stories that counter that narrative and show that African peoples are not only continuing to contribute to leadership, but always have. And part of that is that our identities, our cultures, are connected to, imbued in, and part of that leadership narrative. We refuse to leave that behind.
Third, we are banking on everyday African leaders. We remain tired of the narrative that our political leaders have failed us; that after independence from European powers, which is the reason for the Africa Day commemoration, we are now stuck with leaders who are solely responsible for the continued erosion of our stories.
At WWLA, we focus on more than the African political leadership narrative. Yes, we should insist on asking for the broader complexity of the facts behind African leadership failures to be acknowledged, hold to account those leaders who need to be, and continue working towards forms of democracy that truly serve African peoples. However, we choose to prioritize the power of collective leadership, ownership, and accountability for solving Africa’s challenges. This, then, is a story of the collective power of everyday African leaders. It is the inspiration that comes from the everyday African leadership stories we have had the privilege of collecting and curating over these past 10 years that gives us hope in the midst of reasons for pessimism. We now have six volumes and three in progress, which represent over 200 stories collected and shared. Our greatest African joy, then, is knowing that in 2036 and 2046, future African leaders will have access to YOUR stories.
We also know that for those of us doing this work every day – whether in for-profit, non-profit, or other spaces – it can feel isolating and tiring. Thus, our goal was to remind all of us that we are not alone. That there is a community of everyday African leaders doing work for the progress of the continent. And that WWLA spaces and gatherings can be a place where we come and breathe; a space for each of us to pause, to access the joy of community, and to be strengthened to continue our work.
As the saying goes, we are the people we have been waiting for. This is a moment in the sun to do our part on behalf of future generations just like the leadership ancestors we draw inspiration from did for us.
Looking forward
After looking back, we turned our attention forward to imagine the next 10 years.
We invited the group to picture ourselves a year from now, returning home from our 10th anniversary gathering, what we are calling WWLA 10, in 2027. We imagined the feeling of it: the energy, the connections, the sense of possibility that might have emerged. We challenged the group to consider: what would be different in the world because we had come together?
- A shift from scarcity to abundance, from deficit to possibility
- Conversations that made me feel seen and heard
- Collaboration across borders
- Storytelling evolving beyond text into sound, into animation, into new forms we are only beginning to explore
- AI and its impact on and for Africa considered
- Partnerships brokered
- Connections made
- The biggest impact with very little
- Something actionable
We have many more notes and concrete ideas from the group that we are now diving into to shape and craft the WWLA 10 gathering (stay tuned!). But at the moment, two thoughts have stood out to us, and we are holding on to them as we synthesize and make those plans accordingly:
- We don’t need big projects. We just need people with drive and passion to create impact together.
- It’s amazing to see that we are here, the manifestation of your focus on the mission that came from your scheming at a conference that we wanted to see and hear from more African leaders. Perhaps the goal of WWLA 10 is to uncover the vision for the next 10 years.
Returning to joy
So we come back to the question we started with: what does African joy mean to us?
African joy was celebrating in community this Africa Day.
It is also the quiet, persistent act of choosing to show up for one another and for the future we are imaging together.
For now, we remind you that if joy is part of the future we are dreaming of, then it must also be part of how we all lead today.
African joy is resistance, remembrance, and reawakening of our collective leadership. And it will be an anchor for how we come together in May 2027.
WWLA 10 is projected to take place somewhere in the continent between 21 to 23 May 2027. Save the date to join us for this joyful community-centred and future-shaping gathering.