Editorial Board | Young African Leaders Journal of Development | Active Journals

EDITORIAL CREW

The Young African Leaders Forum (YALF) boasts of an excellent editorial team which is guided by our consultants who are renowned scholars (Professors, Doctors) in different fields. Our editors include the following persons:

PRINCE IFOH

Prince Ifoh is a prominent pan-African activist renowned for founding the Young African Leaders Forum (YALF), dedicated to empowering youths and cultivating future African leaders. He initiated the Young African Leaders Journal of Development (YALJOD) project in 2015, and served as its founding chief editor, pioneering Africa’s premier youth-led journal. An esteemed alumnus of the Teach for All global network, Prince possesses extensive expertise in teaching, research, community engagement, and leadership development. His exceptional community service has garnered international acclaim, earning him prestigious awards such as the African Union Youth Hero Award, Gathering of Africa’s Best recognition, British Award for African Development, and The Africa We Want Award.

SOMBO MUZATA, Ph.D

Dr. Sombo Muzata is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at James Madison University. She is the Director of the Master of Public Administration (MPA) program responsible for student affairs, in the Department of Political Science in the College of Arts and Letters. Dr. Muzata is a multi disciplinary expert whose research interests lie at the intersection of government and business. She is passionate about accountability in government and is the convener of the Accountability in African Public Policy and Administration symposium, an annual conference that advances scholarship and its link to practice. Some of Dr. Muzata’s research is published in the Journal of Public Budgeting & Financial Management, and the Journal of African Business.

She has vast international development experience having worked as Country Director in Zambia for Diakonia, a Sweden headquartered international nonprofit. Dr. Muzata is an alumna of the Oxford Impact Investing Program, Carnegie African Diaspora Fellow, and a 2016 Mandela Washington Fellow. Dr. Muzata is a proud supporter of the YALF and is editor in chief of the YALJOD.

NGOZI EMMANUEL, Ph.D

Dr Ngozi Marion Emmanuel is an academic with over a decade of experience in teaching and supporting learning in Higher Education. Her field of research is media and disability studies, an area that she has been researching over the last five years. Dr Emmanuel is also a seasoned media professional who has worked in both print and broadcast media. She has won several awards and research grants to support her work such as the ESRC/IAA grant that enabled her to create her research website www.disabilitiesinmedia.com

SARA AMAR, Ph.D

Dr. Sara Amar is a researcher with a specialization in Industrial and Logistics Engineering. Currently, she serves as an Assistant Professor in Logistics and Systems Engineering at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, USA. Prior to this role, Dr. Sara was an Assistant Professor and Head of the Industrial Management Department at Liwa College in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Dr. Sara's academic journey began at the National School of Applied Sciences, where she earned her engineering degree in logistics and transportation sciences. She further advanced her expertise by completing a Ph.D. in the field of industrial and logistics engineering.

Throughout her career, Dr. Sara has authored numerous papers and actively organized and participated in national and international conferences. Her research interests include Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM), Operations Research, Industry 5.0, Transportation and Urban Logistics, and Sustainable Development.

MATTHEW OGWU, Ph.D

Dr. Ogwu is an Assistant Professor of Integrated Ecology and Sustainable Development in the Goodnight Family Sustainable Development Department at Appalachian State University, USA. He obtained his Ph.D. in Biological Sciences with a research focus in the Molecular Biology of Soil Microbial and Geographical Ecology from Seoul National University. He holds an M.Sc. (Distinction) and B.Sc. (First Class) in Plant Diversity and Conservation and Plant Biology and Biotechnology respectively from the University of Benin, Nigeria. After receiving his Ph.D., he worked as a Researcher at the Centre for Floristic Research of the Apennines, Italy where he contributed to numerous European Union-funded research including the famous NATURA 2000 project for sustainable ecosystem and biodiversity management. Before that, Matt was a Lecturer at the University of Benin, Nigeria, where he taught courses in plant biology and biotechnology, biometry, economic botany, cytogenetics, etc., and supervised and co-supervised honors and graduate students’ theses respectively. Dr. Ogwu is an interdisciplinary academic with transdisciplinary skills pertinent to the assessment of coupled human and natural as well as socio ecological systems and has numerous awards, research grants, and scholarships to his name. His research and teaching revolve around sustainable biodiversity and ecosystem management by assessing the realm of coupled systems for sustainable environmental development as well as addressing sustainable development issues arising from various scales of biogeographical interactions. Some of his research interests include soil microbial and geographical ecology, molecular and genomic characterization of economic plant species for breeding, conservation, and sustainable utilization as well as biodiversity issues and policies, climate change science, gut and fecal microbiota, bioinformatics, biosystems and bioeconomy, sustainable agriculture and food production systems, ethnoscience (including traditional biotechnological practices), land use patterns, waste management, microbial diversity, environmental and social systems integrity, landscape preservation, and pollution ecology. He is spearheading some convergence works (One Health and Eco Health) in the Human Environmental and Agricultural Laboratory (HEAL lab) at Appalachian State University. Dr. Ogwu has published over 100 peer-reviewed works and has presented his results at different international conferences. Dr. Ogwu has attended numerous professional courses and serves on the board of and as a reviewer for many peer-reviewed international journals. He continues to volunteer his time and skills to promote sustainable community development, especially in the Global South. Matt is fluent in several languages and loves to travel and meet new people.

JOHN BASSEY

John Bassey (ACIPM, SPHRi) is a Recruitment Solutions Consultant and writer with solid experience in book and magazine editing. He is also an expert in Recruitment Operations, Recruitment Consulting and Business Development.

For over two years, John spearheaded the Web Content Editing and job brief development team and prior to December 2019, he led the Core Recruitment Consulting team in Jobberman, providing leadership and direction and helping businesses in solving challenging Human Resources and talent problems. He actively participated in a number of talent sourcing projects including the World Bank-funded Growth and Employment (GEM) Project.

EDITORIAL CONSULTANTS

Dr. Patricia Rodney

United States

Dr. Salah S. Hammad

Ethiopia

Dr. Justina Mutale

Zambia

Dr. Beatrice Njenga

Kenya

Dr. Tim Kiruhi