To shape Africa's destiny with endogenous knowledge: Renowned academic, Prof Pondi, launches The Pondi Foundation.

This was during a ceremony in Yaounde. According to Prof Pondi, the Foundation is designed to move Africa from the margins of history to the centre of its own future.

The exercise was under the theme: “The role of youth in the transformation of Africa in the 21st century”. The event was attended by stakeholders, youth leaders, and students. Discussions focused on Africa’s development challenges and opportunities. 

Prof Pondi said in today’s world, Africa has been reduced to a narrative that has produced nothing, invented nothing, and is merely a consumer. This, he said, is false.

Prof Pondi said Africans have failed to codify, archive, catalogue, and put in place mechanisms for transmitting knowledge. 

In this light, the academic said, The Pondi Foundation will serve as a centre for intergenerational transmission of endogenous African knowledge.

The veteran varsity don explained that thousands of years to come, African heritage can go up in smoke because of the new rules of digitalization and Artificial Intelligence.

He said African knowledge should be preserved following the Chinese example such that in 50 or 100 years “we can look back on it with confidence”.

Call to Africans 

He urged Africa, especially its youth, to look into 400,000 years of history, noting what worked and what can be preserved to project in to the future.

He revisited the Chinese example, noting that the country is advancing “because of its cultural foundation”. 

Prof Pondi noted that without excluding others, Africa needs to step up its capacity to handles its challenges. 

This, he noted, should be done taking into account the Continent’s “true socio-political, economic, and cultural context”. 

To the youths, he urged them to through innovation, proffer concrete solutions to problems facing Africa. Prof Pondi noted that the moment for Africa and its youth to act “is now”. 

Africa’s challenges, he said, must be seen as stepping stones and not setbacks. The Pondi Foundation, he said, is ready to work with young Africans ready to lean about their culture and build the future.

Youth responsible for growth

One of those who attended the event, Njoh Edimomene B Johnson, said “…what The Pondi Foundation is trying to bring in is to tell the young people that they are responsible for the Africa in 50 years”. Njoh said now is the time to think about Africa’s future.

Njoh said youths represent 70 percent of Africa’s population and 60 percent of Cameroon. “This means that if we want to see a prosperous Africa, we must push these reflections…,” he remarked.

Young people, he noted, have to understand their place in building Africa’s future.

In this era, Njoh said African youths should be at the centre of discussions especially on issues that concern them. 

“We want to be at the center of this discussion, and the Pondi Foundation offers us this opportunity,” Njoh noted.

Another participant, Max Celest, said Africa has been under external influence for long. Celest quipped that: “I think it's really time that Africa takes back the horn and pushes itself to greatness”. 

The Pondi Foundation was founded in 2022. Officials said it is a Pan-African think-and-do institution that goes beyond charity to actively shape Africa's intellectual, political, economic, and cultural destiny through endogenous knowledge and African-led solutions.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3766 of Monday April 20, 2026