Equipping African Scholars: Insights from Ashinaga France’s Spring Professional Tsudoi

Ashinaga France hosted their exclusive Spring Professional Tsudoi, a unique gathering tailored for graduating Scholars, on April 6, 2024. This event, designed specifically for those graduating this summer (5th-year Master and 3rd-year Licence Scholars),  was their final Tsudoi as Ashinaga Africa Initiative (AAI) Scholars. The theme , ‘After Ashinaga: Stepping into the Job Market’, underscored the significance of this transition.

 

The Spring Tsudoi is explicitly focused on professional development. It recognizes and prepares the Scholars for their transition to autonomy, from AAI Scholars to independent graduates entering the workforce, either in their country of study or immediately back in sub-Saharan Africa. Guiding them through their transition into the job market with tools, methods, and mindsets to develop their professional skills, our Spring Tsudoi also aims to share real-life advice from African professionals with experience related to the African Continent.

 

This year, Ashinaga France welcomed as guest speakers Mr. Juvénal ABOUA, from Côte d’Ivoire, President of the African Business Club and currently working in Paris as a Consultant in Strategy and Transformation at Capgemini Invent. Mr. Aboua emphasized the importance of scholars gradually building up valuable and transferrable skills to ensure that they bring actual value to the continent when they return to their home countries. He leads this vision at ABC, sharing the same objective as the AAI program: to make a significant contribution to the continent through the African diasporas. Scholars had rich conversations with our guests and other ABC members who later joined us for an after-work.

 

Ashinaga France was honored to welcome two successful French graduates as guest speakers, who attended their last Tsudoi just a year ago. Mr. Sylvestre BAKHOUM (Cohort 3, from Senegal, currently working in a public policy cabinet in Paris) and Mr. Moussa KABORE (Cohort 3, from Burkina Faso, currently working as an architect in Paris), both graduated in 2023 and graciously shared their experience and advice with our Scholars. Their stories serve as a beacon of hope, demonstrating that with the right skills and mindset, success is within reach.

 

The Spring Professional Tsudoi, hosted by Ashinaga France on April 6, 2024, marked a significant milestone for graduating Scholars in the Ashinaga Africa Initiative. The event equipped graduating AAI Scholars with skills and inspiration for their career journeys. They commit to making meaningful contributions to Africa’s development as they enter the job market.