As part of its mission to be a top African employer and constantly provide opportunities for entrepreneurial leadership talent, Ringier Africa (http://APO.af/EkqVN4) is launching a new internship programme, Ringier Africa Internships, first across its Nigeria & Ghana offices - through an inaugural partnership with the African Leadership University (ALU) (www.ALUEducation.com).

The ALU is a pioneering academic institute set up by educationalist Fred Swaniker in 2013 and forms part of the Africa Leadership Group (http://ALGroup.org), which is building the networks and infrastructure to empower and connect a new generation of African leaders.

Through the program, students from the ALU from across the continent, will be offered much sought-after internship programmes with one of Africa’s largest media and internet groups & investors, having gone through a rigorous selection process. The African Leadership University is a world-class tertiary institution that is developing the next generation of African leaders. As a partner, Ringier Africa is supporting the ALU with positions for three exceptional students to take part in an internship within the company. The first intake of students to be accepted onto the programme will start in November 2016.

Ringier Africa Internships has been structured to nurture talent, and support the very best students with real-life, on the job, practical experience. As one of the continent’s most expansive internet operations, Ringier Africa has delivered market leading e-commerce, online classifieds and digital publishing platforms across numerous markets and has established a pan-African digital agency. The company is now looking to continue to build its talent pool, and engage with and encourage the next generation of leaders.

Leonard Stiegeler, General Manager Ringier Africa: «We have long been admirers of the ALU’s vision of nurturing Africa’s leaders of the future and we are happy to be welcoming their cohorts into the Ringier Africa family as part of our internship program. As a company, we are committed to supporting young, dynamic talent in Africa and we’re excited to working with them across our portfolio companies.»

Fred Swaniker, Founder of ALU adds: «We are delighted to partner with Ringier to provide internships for ALU students. We partner with leading African companies to provide internships for our students as part of ALU’s requirement for students to undertake 4 month internships each year to enable them to master the skills they have learnt in class through the year. Ringier offers ALU students an exceptional opportunity to work at the cutting edge of digital marketing across Africa, allowing them to merge the boundaries between the work place and the classroom. I believe that our partnership with Ringier helps us realise our mission to produce highly skilled, market-ready graduates that are well prepared for the challenge of leadership in Africa in the 21^st century.»

The exercises the interns will take on within Ringier Africa and its business models are diverse: At Ringier in Nigeria, the ALU intern will be part of a brand new project that will instigate a new project in Ringier’s digital agency RDM. In the Ghana office, an ALU intern will be immersed in the company’s Ringier Africa Digital Publishing (RADP) flagship news platform, Pulse, where their duties will include working on social interest stories and going out ‘in the field’ with experienced journalists. In both roles, Ringier Africa interns will gain significant exposure to working in a corporate but entrepreneurial environment, a sense of taking responsibility and learn the art of accountability in the workplace. Upon completing their internships they will enter the Alumni network of Ringier Africa with preferred access for future full-time positions.

ALU is founded on the philosophy that a new generation of ethical, committed leaders is the key to Africa’s development and students spend eight months on campus and four months in a structured internship in one of the top companies in Africa and around the world. Ringier Africa joins other leading global companies including McKinsey, Coca-Cola and IBM, by providing placements for ALU interns. The Africa Leadership Group is an ecosystem of institutions which share a common vision: transforming Africa by developing and connecting a new generation of ethical, entrepreneurial leaders.