Eighty-Nine (89) association professionals and nonprofit managers in Rwanda, Kenya and Nigeria successfully completed the certificate course training in association management offered by the African Society of Association Executives (AfSAE). Gathered in Rwanda’s clean capital Kigali, the highly anticipated association training and development workshop was sponsored by the Rwanda Convention Bureau (RCB) and facilitated by AfSAE. The training took place at Ubumwe Grande Hotel.
Premised on the veritable platform of AfSAE’s vision of education, advocacy, networking, and as a voice of the association profession in Africa, the 3 days training was the most intense that the society has conducted since it was founded in 2016. Mr. Gregg Talley, CAE, FASAE, President and CEO of Talley Management Group, Inc. and Jeffers Miruka, AfSAE President and CEO of the African Association Management Company (AFAMCO) facilitated the training. The workshop was intertwined with several group discussions and short presentations from participants, all aimed at maximizing learning and promoting networking. Delegates were disallowed from sharing the same tables with similar faces during the training to foster free interactions.
The prestigious certificate program in association management course, that leads to a Certified Association Executive (CAE) credential is a product of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) also known as the Center for Association Leadership. This was made possible through a grant of program license and faculty status agreement between ASAE and AfSAE. The courses covered included; essential practices in association management, effectively managing volunteer committees and task forces, membership development, communication and public relation, and developing your leadership potential. The first course of the program, essential practices in association management was first offered during Meetings Africa 2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa, in June 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda and in February 2019 in Accra Ghana. It’s the intention of AfSAE to spread this training in Africa as it promotes the association management profession in the continent and give voices to associations, equipped the AfSAE president.
Frank Murangwa, Director of Destination Marketing at the Rwanda Convention Bureau, while closing the training, said that associations have made his organisation set new targets for revenues earned from hosting business events from $74 million in 2018 to $88 million in 2019. With events such as Transform Africa Summit (TAS) and International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA 2019) lined up, Rwanda is well positioned to be a force to reckon with as a business events destination in Africa.
