Our Governance

Co-Founder & Chairman of KANU – The Pan-African Think Tank

Dr K. FOKAM, Founder of KANU Dr K. Fokam is a researcher in leadership, management sciences, and African cultures, and a lecturer in strategy. He is the architect and patron of a vast international network of rural development microbanks, known as MC², whose aim is to enable people in underserved areas to take their destiny into their own hands and create wealth. He is also the founding president of the PKFokam Institute of Excellence, a technological university whose purpose is to train the leaders Africa needs. More broadly, the need to build African leadership equal to the continent’s challenges has been at the center of his extensive bibliography for 30 years. A few titles bear witness to this: L’entrepreneur africain face au défi d'exister (1993); Misère galopante du sud, complicité du nord (2005); Et si l’Afrique se réveillait ? (2003); L’entreprise africaine et la mondialisation (2009); Quelle Afrique à l’horizon 2050 ? (2013); L’intelligence économique, une arme redoutable dans la bataille économique mondiale (2016); Deux capitaines d’industrie se racontent (co-authored in 2019 with Gervais Kofi Djondo). To reach as many Africans as possible on critical issues such as leadership, critical thinking, entrepreneurship, and even failure, he created the EVEIL collection at éditions GP Maisonneuve Larose, a series that counts five books published over three years (2022–2025).

GCSK, CSK, PhD, DSc – Co-Founder of KANU

Her Excellency Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, GCSK, CSK, PhD, DSc, Co-Founder of KANU – The Pan-African Think Tank Professor. Biodiversity scientist. Entrepreneur. Author. 6th President of the Republic of Mauritius. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim was the 6th President of the Republic of Mauritius, and the first woman to hold this office (2015–2018). Before that, she served as Chief Executive Officer of the Centre International de Développement Pharmaceutique (CIDP R&I) and as a chaired Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Mauritius. Since 2001, she has successively held the positions of Dean of the Faculty of Science and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (2004–2010). She is the author and co-editor of 30 books, several book chapters, and scientific articles in the fields of biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. Elected to several academies and learned societies, Dr. Gurib-Fakim has received numerous international distinctions, including the L’Oréal–UNESCO For Women in Science Award in 2007 and the African Union Commission Award for Women in Science in 2009. In 2021, she was appointed Distinguished Professor at the John Wesley School of Leadership, Carolina University, United States. In June 2016, she appeared on Forbes’ list of the world’s 100 most powerful women, and she ranked 1st among the 100 most influential women in Africa on Forbes’ 2017 and 2019 lists. She has also been honored as one of Foreign Policy magazine’s 2015 Global Thinkers and has received seven honorary doctorates.

Co-Founder of KANU – Former Chairperson, AU Commission

H.E. Dr Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini-Zuma, Co-Founder of KANU – The Pan-African Think Tank A South African politician, H.E. Dr Dlamini-Zuma is a former Chairperson of the African Union Commission; former South African Minister of Home Affairs; former Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation; then Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs; and finally Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities.

Co-Founder of KANU – Business Leader

Mr. Koné Dossongui, Co-Founder of KANU – The Pan-African Think Tank Holder of a degree in agronomy from ENSA and a management degree from IAE Paris, he served for over a decade in senior positions within the Ivorian public administration and received several government honors, from 1979 through the late 1980s. Recognized as one of the leading figures and pioneers who built Côte d’Ivoire’s recent agricultural policy, the Ivorian businessman Mr. Koné Dossongui later founded Atlantic Group, a diversified conglomerate spanning financial services (banking, insurance) and industrial activities in West Africa, Central Africa, and the Indian Ocean region.

Co-Founder of KANU – Scholar & Diplomatic Historian

Prof. Jean-Emmanuel Pondi: The Master of International Relations and the Builder of Cameroonian Diplomacy Professor Jean-Emmanuel Pondi is one of Africa’s most eminent political scientists and experts in international relations. His exceptional career is that of a world-class academic, a high-level administrator, and a public intellectual whose work has profoundly shaped the training of Cameroon’s diplomatic elite and the understanding of Africa’s place on the world stage. Professor Pondi’s path is unique, forged within the most prestigious universities of the Anglophone world. After a double bachelor’s degree in Economics and Political Science at the State University of New York, he earned a Master of Science from the London School of Economics (LSE), a Master of Philosophy from the University of Cambridge, and finally a Ph.D. in Political Science from Pennsylvania State University in the United States. This elite course of study, completed by post-doctoral training at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), gave him a rare command of international academic and diplomatic traditions. Professor Pondi’s intellectual stature can be measured by an exceptionally rich body of work. To date, he is the author, co-author, or editor of 24 books and more than 60 scholarly articles. His publications—appearing in leading journals such as The SAIS Review and Politique Africaine—span the entire field of international relations, from theory to strategic analysis. Two of his major contributions illustrate his double impact: the training of people and the structuring of ideas. For more than two decades, Professor Pondi’s career has been closely tied to the Institute of International Relations of Cameroon (IRIC). Having risen through all its ranks, he became its Director from 1999 to 2005. Under his leadership, this flagship institution gained national and international prominence. He directly trained and inspired an entire generation of diplomats and senior officials who today represent Cameroon and other African countries on the world stage, making IRIC a recognized center of excellence for analyzing global issues from an African perspective. Throughout his career, Professor Pondi has published abundantly to analyze major world issues through an “African lens.” From his first book on the OAU co-authored with Maurice Kamto in 1990 to his analyses of figures such as Mandela and Sankara, and of events such as the war in Iraq, he has helped build an African doctrine of international relations. A Full Professor since 2005, his trajectory is marked by top-level responsibilities (Secretary-General and Vice-Rector of the Universities of Yaoundé I and II, Rector of ICT University) and prestigious distinctions. He is a Commander of the Order of Valour of Cameroon, a Commander of the French Order of Academic Palms, a Fellow of the Cameroon Academy of Sciences, and was elected “Intellectual of the Decade 2000–2010.” His individual talent lies in his perfect bilingualism and his unique ability to navigate between the Francophone and Anglophone academic and diplomatic worlds. By translating a world-class education into expertise in the service of his country, by building the institution that trains its diplomats, and by writing the works that nourish their worldview, Professor Pondi offers 237 reasons to excel.

Co-Founder of KANU – Entrepreneur & Philanthropist

M. Toubi Joseph is a seasoned banker with 36 years of experience in various areas of banking including risk, audit and business development, Mr Joseph TOUBI has been Executive Vice President of the Afriland First Group banking group since September 2008. Through his research, he has developed strong skills in geostrategy, systems, political economy and project management.

Co-Founder of KANU – Entrepreneur & Philanthropist

Maurice Simo Djom, Co-Founder of KANU Holder of a PhD in Comparative Literature earned in 2015 at the University of Yaoundé I (Cameroon), this atypical and independent researcher—whose approach is marked by transdisciplinarity and heterodoxy—focuses on geopolitics and geoeconomics. In his book La guerre économique (“Economic War”), published in May 2019, he developed a five-pillar theory of economic warfare. In Les réseaux sociaux (“Social Networks”), published in 2020, he addresses social-media users to show how to use these tools in ways that are not alienating but instead propel economic activity and personal fulfillment. With L’État de l’Afrique 2024 (“The State of Africa 2024”), he moves up a level by creating “an African perspective on Africa and the world.” This work is an encyclopedic, monumental analysis of African geopolitics that revisits the key moments of 2023 and signals the trends to watch in the near future. The continent is indeed being courted in a world where multilateralism is fraying and a multipolar order is emerging—albeit painfully. With this work, Maurice Simo Djom inaugurates a new geopolitical tradition aimed at making African reality intelligible. He invites the public each year to an analysis of African dynamics, written from an African viewpoint and intended for African audiences. L’État de l’Afrique 2025 (“The State of Africa 2025”) confirms that African reality is complex and merits sustained, in-depth treatment to guide reflection and nourish Pan-African action. The Sahel revolution lies at the heart of the analyses in the first two editions of L’État de l’Afrique. The author closely observes what he describes as the early signs of the continent’s liberation. In this he converges with Ahoua Don Mello, who presents the AES as the laboratory of Pan-Africanism. Maurice Simo Djom is also a lecturer in critical thinking at the PKFokom Institute of Excellence in Yaoundé.

Co-Founder, Deputy Chairperson & CEO of KANU – The Pan-African Think Tank

Colonel Samuel Kamé-Domguia, Co-Founder, Vice President and CEO of KANU – The Pan-African Think Tank A Pan-African strategic thinker and visionary, Colonel (Ret.) Samuel Kamé-Domguia is an architect of innovative public policies and disruptive geostrategies. He is the Co-Founder and CEO of KANU – The Pan-African Think Tank, which he leads with the conviction that intellectual sovereignty is the key to Africa’s emancipation. International experts call him “the Father of African geostrategic thought on the oceans.” Others call him “the Father of the African Sustainable Blue Economy,” a concept he developed within his Africa’s Integrated Maritime Strategy – Horizon 2050 (2050 AIM Strategy) for the African Union, dubbed “the New Frontier of the African Renaissance” by the AU Heads of State and Government. A senior international consultant, he serves as Technical Coordinator of the Maritime Conference of the Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of Central African States (COMAR) and chairs its Scientific and Technical Committee. He is also the Founder and CEO of KAMÉ-DOMGUIA Consulting Group, specialized in strategic engineering, forward-looking geopolitics, and transformational public policy. A prolific author, he has published numerous articles and policy briefs on contemporary geopolitical and geostrategic issues and challenges, helping to inform strategic decision-making across the continent. He is also the author of several books, including: • “PROSPECTIVES 2050: Engineering Concrete Solutions to Global Geostrategic Challenges”; • “Africa at the Heart of Science: From Antiquity to Modern Technological Revolutions”; • and co-author of “The Blue Economy in Africa: A Practical Guide.” A visionary and committed Lay Cistercian, he works toward a strategic renaissance of Africa, driven by collective intelligence, endogenous innovation, and a sovereign diplomacy of influence.

KANU – The Pan-African Think Tank
“Knowledge for Africa’s New Uprising”

Preamble

KANU is an independent, visionary, and committed Pan-African Think Tank, serving the intellectual sovereignty of Africa. Rooted in a will for radical transformation of the continent, it places ethics, scientific rigor, excellence, human dignity, and the common good at the heart of its action.

This charter serves as a reference framework for all members, researchers, partners, and collaborators of KANU. It sets out the guiding principles of conduct, research, knowledge production, and dissemination within the Think Tank.

Article 1 – Foundational Principles
• Intellectual Independence
• African Sovereignty
• Scientific Rigor
• Ethics of Truth
• Collective Responsibility

Article 2 – Scientific Integrity
• No plagiarism or data falsification
• Mandatory citation of sources
• Distinguish facts, analysis, hypotheses, opinions
• Ethical use of personal/sensitive/strategic data

Article 3 – Independence and Non-Instrumentalization
• Full autonomy in agendas and recommendations
• No donor or state dictates editorial outcomes

Article 4 – Pan-African and Decolonial Commitment
• Value African epistemologies and indigenous knowledge
• Deconstruct hegemonic models; promote emancipatory thinking

Article 5 – Pluralism, Inclusion, and Diversity
• Open to disciplines, schools of thought, Pan-African perspectives
• Inclusive of women, youth, diasporas, local/indigenous communities
• Collegial, promoting collective intelligence

Article 6 – Protection of Individuals and Data
• Informed consent
• Anonymize sensitive data
• Apply international standards

Article 7 – Social Responsibility and Foresight
• Transform societies through intellectual innovation
• Anticipate disruptions and propose concrete, adapted solutions
• Contribute to training future leaders

Article 8 – Ethical Governance
• Dedicated Ethics & Scientific Committee to ensure implementation, evaluation, arbitration, and updates.

Conclusion
This charter is a demanding commitment. It embodies KANU’s identity: intellectual uprising, strategic audacity, and Pan-African rigor. All members adhere to this charter in fidelity to our mission: to think, affirm, and build Africa by itself, for itself, and with itself.