Paheja Siririka
Davis Higiro
RWANDA – Former first lady Monica Geingos has stated that her plan post-first lady duty has always been centred around equipping young Africans with pragmatic leadership skills. She was recently appointed as the Founding Chancellor of Kepler College with tasks and responsibilities centred on overseeing academic ceremonies, conferring degrees, and representing the College within and beyond the educational community.
Now, she is embarking on an inspiring new journey – one dedicated to advancing education, cultivating leadership and empowering the next generation of youth to reach their fullest potential.
“My journey as first lady ended abruptly and unexpectedly. But even before that, I always had a clear plan of what I wanted to focus on after, and that has always been around empowering young Africans with pragmatic leadership skills. My role at Kepler aligns with that mission,” said Geingos while engaging The New Times in Kigali, Rwanda, recently.
“I think the values I see around education and the ones modelled by Kepler are about being pragmatic and meeting students where they are. You are not going to get perfect students, and there will be gaps.
As educators, it’s our role to fill those gaps so we can produce graduates who are ready to be either employers or employees,” she highlighted.
Kepler College follows a “learn by doing” approach, focusing on teaching 21st-century skills that prepare students to succeed in Rwanda’s job market and beyond.
Geingos said: “For me, education must be accessible, and Kepler reflects that. We are working on expanding access through online courses across the continent. It also must be affordable, scalable and competency-based. Those are the values I hold dear, whether at Kepler or any other institution of higher learning.”
Making an impact and investing in capacity-building is a 24/7 task that Geingos takes seriously.
“I don’t have much of a social life. All I do is work, and the core of that work is focused on the development of young people. I also do a lot of advocacies on issues close to my heart, like the economic empowerment of women and reproductive health. I’m still the chairperson of a private equity fund that I co-founded, so that keeps me a little busy too,” she said.
A project that she is working on in Rwanda is establishing Leadership Lab Yetu in Kigali. The Lab will identify and equip young leaders from across the continent – whether in media, business, or politics – with the tools to navigate real-world challenges.
‘Yetu’ means ‘ours’ in some languages in Rwanda and Namibia, a name that reflects the belief that Africans must define leadership for themselves.
Geingos emphasised that Rwanda’s ecosystem of pragmatic and inclusive leadership makes it the ideal place for this initiative.
“The goal is to identify young Africans from across the continent and equip them with a curriculum centred on pragmatic leadership – whether they are in media, politics, business, or other sectors. It’s about helping them navigate the complex, competing interests that come with leadership roles,” she noted.