Fred Swaniker
{{Short description|Ghanaian entrepreneur}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Frederick Kenneth Swaniker
| image = Fred Swaniker - PopTech 2015 - Camden, Maine.jpg
| alt =
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| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth year and age |1976}}
| birth_place = Ghana
| death_date =
| death_place =
| alma_mater = Macalester College
Stanford Graduate School of Business
| nationality = Ghanaian
| other_names =
| occupation = {{hlist|Entrepreneur|educator}}
| known_for = Co-founder of African Leadership Academy, African Leadership University, Sand Technologies
| spouse =
| partner =
| children =
| parents =
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| website = [http://www.alxafrica.com ALX Africa]
}}
Fred Swaniker (born 1976) is a Ghanaian serial entrepreneur and leadership development expert, focused on supporting individuals to achieve their goals. Swaniker recognized the importance of leadership and education while serving as the headmaster of a secondary school founded by his mother at the age of 17. He believed that effective leadership was a key factor needed to drive transformation in Africa. He then founded African Leadership Group, which tries to develop ethical, entrepreneurial African leaders.
He has founded and led the pre-university African Leadership Academy based in South Africa, the African Leadership University with campuses in Mauritius and Rwanda, [https://www.alxafrica.com/ ALX], and [https://www.sandtech.com/ Sand Technologies], aspiring to transform Africa by developing 3 million African leaders by 2035.
In 2019, Time magazine recognized him as one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World" and Fast Company included African Leadership Group among the 50 most innovative companies in the world.{{Cite web |last=Odutayo |first=Damilola |date=2019-02-20 |title=Fast Company reveals list of most innovative African companies |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/20/africa/africa-innovative-companies-intl/index.html |access-date=2024-11-12 |website=CNN |language=en}}
Early life and education
His father was a lawyer and magistrate, and his mother, an educator. Both are Ghanaian, but when he was 4 his family fled Ghana after the military coup and had lived in four countries in Africa by the time he was 18.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04j9syx|title=Creating Tomorrow's African Leaders, Outlook - BBC World Service|website=BBC|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-08-27}} He attended Macalester College in Minnesota and the Stanford Graduate School of Business in California,{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/2008/05/23/africa-brain-drain-tech-ebiz-cz_vb_0526africa.html|title=Fighting Africa's Brain Drain|last=Barret|first=Victoria|date=May 26, 2008|work=Forbes|accessdate=15 November 2013}} where he received an MBA and was named an Arjay Miller Scholar.
Career
While at Stanford, Swaniker wrote the business plan for African Leadership Academy, a pan-African school that would groom the future leaders of Africa. This was based on his belief that the single largest impediment to Africa's progress was the lack of good leadership.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16342145|title=Training Africa's future leaders|date=2012|work=BBC News|access-date=2018-08-27|language=en-GB}} He leveraged his Silicon Valley connections to find financial backing and launched the Academy immediately after graduating in 2004. The full-time residential boarding school teaches leadership and entrepreneurial skills to students from across Africa while preparing them for universities around the world. By 2017, about a thousand students had joined the Academy. For most students, tuition is waived, provided they promise to return to Africa after graduating from college.
In 2014 at a TED conference in Brazil, Swaniker announced an expansion of his vision: a new network of 25 African universities that would ultimately groom 3 million leaders by 2060.{{Cite news|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2015/11/06/fred-swaniker-nous-construisons-l-universite-du-futur-en-afrique_4804731_3212.html|title=Fred Swaniker : "Nous construisons l'université du futur en Afrique!"|website=Le Monde.fr|date=6 November 2015|language=fr-FR|access-date=2018-08-27}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.jeuneafrique.com/277371/economie/fred-swaniker-le-secteur-prive-peut-aider-lafrique-a-entrer-dans-leconomie-mondiale-du-savoir/|title=Fred Swaniker : "Le secteur privé peut aider l'Afrique à entrer dans l'économie mondiale du savoir" – JeuneAfrique.com|website=JeuneAfrique.com|date=6 November 2015|language=fr-FR|access-date=2018-08-27}}{{Cite news|url=https://lesclesdedemain.lemonde.fr/economie/fred-swaniker-pour-sortir-de-la-pauvrete-en-afrique-il-faut-investir-dans-nos-cerveaux-_a-90-5604.html|title=Fred Swaniker : "Pour sortir de la pauvreté en Afrique, il faut investir dans nos cerveaux"|date=2016-04-05|access-date=2018-08-27|language=fr|archive-date=2018-08-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180827210107/https://lesclesdedemain.lemonde.fr/economie/fred-swaniker-pour-sortir-de-la-pauvrete-en-afrique-il-faut-investir-dans-nos-cerveaux-_a-90-5604.html|url-status=dead}} By the end of 2016, two campuses had opened: one in Mauritius and the other in Rwanda. Fast Company recognized this network of universities as the 3rd 'Most Innovative Company' in Africa and CNN released a feature calling the university 'the Harvard of Africa'.{{cite web |author1=Heather Richardson |title=The Ghanaian entrepreneur and leadership expert is striving to disrupt education with a model that will produce millions of African leaders and jobs by 2035. |url=https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20190718-fred-swaniker |website=bbc.com |publisher=BBC |accessdate=30 September 2019 |date=22 July 2019}}{{cite web |author1=Howell, Parke |first=Robert, Phoebe |date=9 November 2016 |title=From teenage headmaster to building the 'Harvard' of Africa |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/06/africa/fred-swaniker-teacher-leadership-africa/index.html |accessdate=30 September 2019 |website=cnn.com |format=}} Graca Machel, Nelson Mandela's widow, serves as the Chancellor of the university, while Donald Kaberuka, former President of the African Development Bank, serves as the Chairman of the university's Global Advisory Council.{{Cite web|title=African Leadership University opens in Mauritius|url=https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/african-leadership-university-opens-in-mauritius.html|access-date=2020-06-04|website=Graphic Online|language=en-gb}}
Early in his career, Swaniker co-founded [https://synexagroup.com/ Synexa Life Sciences], a biotech company and [https://www.terraeducation.com/ Terra Education], a teen-focused immersive education and travel company.
Swaniker also leads [https://www.sandtech.com/ Sand Technologies], a data and AI solutions company with engineers and data scientists distributed across Silicon Valley, France, the UK, Romania, Africa and other emerging markets.
Recognition
Swaniker's work as an educational entrepreneur has been praised by the U.S. President Barack Obama{{cite news|url=http://www.ventures-africa.com/2013/07/obama-commends-ghanaian-entrepreneur-for-leadership-role/|title=Obama Commends Ghanaian Entrepreneur For Leadership Role|last=Sedzro|first=Anthony|date=July 3, 2013|work=Ventures - Africa|accessdate=15 November 2013|archive-date=13 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130913123704/http://www.ventures-africa.com/2013/07/obama-commends-ghanaian-entrepreneur-for-leadership-role/|url-status=dead}} and Microsoft founder, Bill Gates.
He has been recognized as a TED Fellow (2009){{Cite web |url=http://fellows.ted.com/profiles/fred-swaniker |title=TED Fellow profile |access-date=2013-08-25 |archive-date=2014-05-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140525162203/http://fellows.ted.com/profiles/fred-swaniker |url-status=dead }} and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader (2012).[http://www.weforum.org/young-global-leaders/fred-swaniker World Economic Forums Young Global Leader] He was named one of the Top Ten Young Power Men in Africa by a 2011 Forbes magazine online feature.[https://archive.today/20130831164331/http://www.forbes.com/pictures/ehed45lik/fred-swaniker-ghanaian-founder-african-leadership-academy/ Top 10 Young Power Man in Africa], Forbes, September 13, 2011, The 10 Youngest Power Men in Africa [https://echoinggreen.org/ Echoing Green] recognized him as 'one of the top 15 social entrepreneurs in the world' in 2006.{{Cite web|title=Global Recognition|url=https://www.africanleadershipacademy.org/about/our-impact/global-recognition/|access-date=2020-06-04|website=African Leadership Academy|language=en-US}} In 2017, Fred Swaniker received two honorary doctorates—one from Middlebury College in the USA and the second from Nelson Mandela University in South Africa.[http://www.middlebury.edu/newsroom/archive/2017-news/node/546722 Middlebury College] In 2018, he received a third honorary doctorate from Macalester College in the USA.
In 2019 he was recognized byTime magazine as one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World"{{cite magazine |url=https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people-2019/5567703/fred-swaniker/ |magazine=Time |accessdate=21 September 2019|title=Fred Swaniker: The 100 Most Influential People of 2019 }} and in 2023, he received the Time 100 Impact Award.{{Cite web |title=The TIME100 Impact Awards |url=https://time.com/collection/time100-impact-awards/ |access-date=2024-11-13 |website=Time |language=en}} Fast Company also included African Leadership Group among the 50 most innovative companies in the world.
Swaniker also sits on the board of the [https://www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/ Rhodes Trust] (awardees of the Rhodes Scholarships to Oxford University), and on the international advisory board of the [https://uwaterloo.ca/ University of Waterloo].
References
{{Reflist}}
- [http://www.fromscratchradio.com/show/fred-swaniker Fred Swaniker - Co-Founder, African Leadership Academy]
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Category:Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni
Category:Macalester College alumni
Category:Ghanaian emigrants to South Africa