# African School of Governance (ASG) ## Basic Info **Name:** African School of Governance (ASG) **What is it:** Graduate-level public policy and governance school launched in Kigali in October 2024. The operating institution is backed by the ASG Foundation (ASGF), a not-for-profit foundation that mobilizes funding, manages endowments, and provides strategic guidance. Explicitly positioned as a pan-African alternative to Western governance schools (Kennedy School, Blavatnik), with a curriculum rooted in African history and governance realities. **Location:** Kigali, Rwanda **Link:** https://asg.ac **Strategic partners:** [[Mastercard Foundation]]; [[Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy]] --- ## Entries ### Leadership *__Founders (ASG Foundation co-founders):__* - [[Paul Kagame]] — President of Rwanda - Hailemariam Desalegn — former PM of Ethiopia __Governing Board:__ - Makhtar Diop — Managing Director, IFC; former Minister of Finance, Senegal - Donald Kaberuka — former President, African Development Bank - Prof. Hajer Gueldich — former Legal Counsel, African Union - Prof. Kishore Mahbubani — former Dean, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, NUS __Executive:__ - [[Francis Gatare]] — President (appointed November 2025; formerly CEO of Rwanda Development Board; Senior Advisor to President Kagame; Mason Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School) - Amany El-Sharif — VP Academic Affairs (formerly VP Pan African University, AU; WHO Advisor) - Ngozichukwu Njemanze — Director of Strategic Planning & Chief of Staff (formerly World Bank Legal VP; LL.M. Harvard Law) - Aissatou Diajhate — Director of External Affairs (formerly Chief of Staff to Mastercard Foundation CEO) ## Open questions **Institutional independence:** ASG was founded by a sitting head of state (Kagame) and is physically housed in the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) offices in Kigali. The current president (Gatare) is a Senior Advisor to Kagame and former head of two Rwandan state agencies. **The Singapore reference:** Kishore Mahbubani's presence on the board and the LKY School partnership are not incidental. The Singapore developmental state model (technocratic, effective, but not liberal-democratic) appears to be a conscious reference point. This shapes what "good governance" means in this context.