African Political Parties Initiative announces inaugural leadership, with Asiedu Nketiah as chair

Ghana’s National Democratic Congress (NDC) National Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, has been named the inaugural Chair of the African Political Parties Initiative (APPI), placing him at the head of a continental platform seeking to strengthen political party institutions and cooperation across Africa.

The African Governance Centre (AGC), which established the initiative, announced the composition of APPI’s inaugural Bureau Leadership following the Second African Political Parties Summit (APPS 2026), held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from November 5 to 7.

Mr Asiedu Nketiah was endorsed as Chair on November 7, following his nomination by an interim committee and approval by participating political parties at the summit. The Bureau will serve an initial three-year term.

The Bureau is supported by ten Regional Vice-Chairs representing political parties across Africa’s five regions.

In North Africa, the representatives are Prof. Benmebarek Abdelkrim of Algeria’s Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) and H.E. Dr Mohamed Ould Mouloud, President of Mauritania’s Union of Forces of Progress.

West Africa is represented by Dr Luther Tarpeh, Chairman of Liberia’s Unity Party, and H.E. Pascal Affi N’Guessan, President of Côte d’Ivoire’s Front Populaire Ivoirien and a former Prime Minister.

For Central Africa, the appointees are Hon. Augustin Kabuya Tshilumba, President and Secretary-General of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), and Hon. Joshua Osih, Chairman of Cameroon’s Social Democratic Front (SDF).

East Africa has Dr Asha-Rose Migiro, Secretary-General of Tanzania’s Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), and Rt. Hon. Richard Todwong, Secretary-General of Uganda’s National Resistance Movement (NRM).

The two representatives for Southern Africa are Hon. Nthatii Moorosi, Secretary-General of Lesotho’s Revolution for Prosperity, and Hon. Sophia Shaningwa, Secretary-General of Namibia’s SWAPO Party.

The Bureau also includes representatives responsible for the initiative’s institutional and programme activities.

Benedicta Lasi, Founder and Chair of the Africa Governance Centre, will serve as Institutional Co-Chair, while the Centre’s Executive Director, Prof. Nelson Oppong, joins as an Institutional Member.

Dr Bikila Hurisa of Ethiopia’s Prosperity Party has been appointed Executive Secretary of APPI.

Other appointments include Prof. Modeste Bahati Lukwebo of the Democratic Republic of Congo, who will chair the Council of African Political Party Schools and Institutes (CAPPSI).

Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, Mayor of Freetown in Sierra Leone, will chair the African Women Political Leadership Summit (AWPLS), while Dr Abdullahi Dayo Israel of Nigeria will lead the African Youth Political Forum (AYPF).

During its initial three-year term, the Bureau is expected to guide APPI’s membership and procedural arrangements, strengthen cooperation among participating political parties, and advance political education and leadership development across the continent.

A major priority will be consultations on APPI Agenda 2040, a proposed long-term framework aimed at strengthening political party institutions, policy capacity and their contribution to Africa’s development.

The initiative is also expected to promote the development of party schools, policy institutes and research institutions, as well as encourage greater participation by women and young people in political decision-making.

In his acceptance address on November 7, Mr Asiedu Nketiah called on political parties to look beyond electoral victories and invest in the structures, expertise and policy knowledge needed to govern effectively.

APPI was formally launched in Accra in March 2025 under the auspices of the Africa Governance Centre. Its first African Political Parties Summit was subsequently held in Accra from August 12 to 14, 2025, bringing together political leaders and governance stakeholders from across the continent.

The second summit was held in Addis Ababa in partnership with Ethiopia’s ruling Prosperity Party under the theme, “Governing for Growth: African Political Parties as Architects of Africa’s Economic Future”.

The gathering concluded with the adoption of the Addis Ababa Declaration, which outlines a framework for strengthening political leadership, democratic governance and the role of political parties in Africa’s economic transformation.

The Africa Governance Centre has congratulated the inaugural Bureau members and pledged to work with the leadership to advance APPI’s objectives.