The United State s Government has announced the opening of applications for the 2014 Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders (YALI).

Announcing this today in Abuja, the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria disclosed that applications for Fellowship “will be accepted until January 27 at http://youngafricanleaders.state.gov.” It said that “qualified applicants must be 25 to 35 years old, proficient in spoken and written English, and resident in Nigeria. Dual citizens or permanent residents of the United States are not eligible. There are no application fees.”

News Express learnt that the YALI programme has three tracks: business and entrepreneurship; public management; and civic leadership.

“Individuals who have demonstrated leadership in the public, private, or non-profit sector are ideal candidates. Five hundred selected YALI Fellows from throughout Africa will travel to the United States in mid-2014 to participate in a six-week program at a U.S. university with 500 young African leaders,” the U.S. Embassy said.

“President Obama and leaders from government, business, and the non-profit sector will participate in a YALI summit. Some YALI Fellows will remain in the program for up to an additional eight weeks after their university program to participate in internships in the United States and elsewhere. Upon their return home, YALI Fellows will continue to build the skills they developed during their U.S. coursework through continued networking, professional development, seed funding, and community service,” the Embassy said.

On the objective of the programme, the Embassy said: “The intent of the YALI initiative is to advance U.S. understanding of and access to Africa’s youth population and encourage African youth to contribute to economic, political, and social development at home. The Obama administration created YALI in 2010 as a means of prioritizing U.S. government efforts to empower the next generation of African leadership. The Department of State has supported YALI since 2010 through a series of high profile fora with youth leaders, including the President’s Young African Leaders Forum, the First Lady’s Young African Women Leaders Forum, and the Young African Leaders Innovation Summit and Mentoring Partnership, in addition to more than 2,000 African youth programs.”

•Photo shows U.S. President Barack Obama, the founder of YALI.