The Alumni Representative Committee (ARC) aims to strengthen the programme by tapping into the insights and expertise of the alumni community. We spoke with Edmand Aijuka, CEO of Kamata and Chair of ARC, about the committee's first year.
1. What is ARC and why is it important to the Africa Prize community?
ARC acts as a bridge between the alumni community and Africa Prize, giving alumni members a voice and agency in shaping the alumni programme. Through interactions and feedback from the alumni community, ARC can help verify the practicability of the training and mentorship from the core and alumni programmes. For example, eight months of the core programme is not enough to entrepreneurs to practically experience all training aspects taught; most of these experiences come later. It is therefore easier to use the alumni feedback, which is based on real-world experience, to enable continuous improvement of the programme.
My dream for the ARC is to build a self-sustaining alumni network where members can have periodic sessions within the sectors and across businesses, share knowledge and ideas, and build partnerships within the community itself
2. Why did you want to get involved with ARC?
I have benefited immensely from the Africa Prize programme and, as one of its first cohorts, have seen the alumni community grow exponentially over the last decade. However, this growth comes with the need to foster closer connections between the Africa Prize team and community. ARC provides an opportunity to leverage this invaluable network to further improve the Africa Prize programme. Owing to how much we benefited from the programme at Kamata, I joined ARC to give back to the Africa Prize and help strengthen the programme for future cohorts and alumni.
3. What have been some key milestones and achievements for ARC over the past year?
This first year has been focussed on building a solid foundation for ARC. We opened a call for committee members and now have a team of six. We have set out specific goals and scope, which helps maximise the impact of our activity. Notably, ARC has two-member representation on the Africa Prize Steering Committee. With consultation from the rest of the ARC members, we have contributed ideas to the steering committee regarding how best to engage the alumni community and the holistic continuous improvement of the Africa Prize programme.
3. What is ARC taking on next and what are you most excited or passionate about for the future?
The ARC has decentralised its involvement with the alumni network by categorising all the innovations within the alumni community into sectors. Each of the six committee members are responsible for collating feedback and input from the sectors they represent. It’s a continuous effort, and once this is successfully achieved, ARC will be a major conduit through which the Africa Prize programme will keep in touch directly with more than 90% of all alumni at any time.
My dream for the ARC is to build a self-sustaining alumni network where members can have periodic sessions within the sectors and across businesses, share knowledge and ideas, and build partnerships within the community itself that grow into impactful businesses.
Find out more about the Africa Prize Alumni Community.