Freetown Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr has successfully completed the prestigious African Mayoral Leadership Initiative (AMALI) program, a year-long initiative aimed at enhancing the leadership skills of African city leaders.

The mayor made the announcement on her social media platform, sharing insights into her journey and the program’s impact on her vision for Freetown.

Reflecting on her participation, Mayor Aki-Sawyerr expressed her satisfaction, stating, “I am pleased to have just completed the one-year African Mayoral Leadership Initiative program.” She further noted her attendance at the final in-person convening in Nairobi, which marked the culmination of the program’s activities.

The African Mayoral Leadership Initiative (AMALI) is a unique partnership supported by Big Win Philanthropy, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and the African Centre for Cities (ACC) at the University of Cape Town.

According to Aki-Sawyerr, the initiative is designed to support African city leaders with an exclusive, tailored program aimed at refining their leadership capabilities and helping them deliver on their visions for their cities.

Aki-Sawyerr highlighted how the AMALI program has played a key role in shaping her administration’s flagship projects, including the TransformFreetown and TransformingLives initiatives. She emphasized that her participation in AMALI directly contributed to the conceptualization and design of these initiatives, particularly the ambitious goal of creating 120,000 decent jobs for women and youth in Freetown by 2028.

Additionally, Mayor Aki-Sawyerr revealed that AMALI is providing ongoing support to the Freetown City Council (FCC) in several key areas. “AMALI is supporting FCC with capacity building, data management expertise, and technical personnel input as we proceed with the implementation of our ambitious but achievable job creation target,” she said.