A team of four IUGB students—Yann Amatche, Orane Emadak Manda Enyegue, Yann Toipli, and Mayana Vlehi —proudly represented our university at the 2025 Yale Model African Union in Nairobi, Kenya. The fourth edition of this conference took place from March 14–16, bringing together young leaders to tackle Africa’s key issues.
YMAU is a conference where participants engage in a simulation of African Union debates to tackle real-world issues in Africa. This opportunity marks a significant step in IUGB’s commitment to leadership and excellence.
But bringing YMAU to IUGB was difficult and unexpected. Keren-Happuc Nwabuike, our Chief Diversity Officer who found the opportunity and worked tirelessly to bring it to IUGB, explains, “The biggest challenge was securing institutional support, including funding and administrative approval. Since international programs require significant resources.” But with persistence, clear communication, and showing YMAU’s long-term impact, Keren made it happen.
Her efforts were greatly supported by Dr. Kouadio Bertin and Ms. Lorie Mattox. With his experience in Model African Union conferences, Dr. Kouadio trained the team, and provided essential feedback.
Ms. Mattox, as the Faculty Advisor of the SGA, contributed her leadership to ensure the team had the support and resources needed for this opportunity. Together, their dedication and expertise played a crucial role in making this event a reality for IUGB students.
The conference covered a range of important topics, including health and humanitarian affairs, economic development, agriculture, sustainability, education, and political affairs. Yann Amatche, who won “Outstanding Delegate” in the Political Committee, shared, “My strategy was simple. I was attacking everyone in the room, especially the delegate representing Nigeria. The chair even told me he liked my aggressiveness.”
This opportunity taught the delegation valuable lessons, such as how to thoroughly prepare for a debate, conduct research effectively, and present arguments with clarity and confidence. They also learned how to engage in diplomacy, handle pressure, and work as a team in a professional environment.
Their faculty advisor, Dr. Esi Mensah, who was with them from the beginning to the end of the trip, testifies that they are now much more confident and ready to take on new challenges.
This was Côte d’Ivoire’s first time participating, so the delegation also learned a lot from other countries. Mayana Vlehi shared that she was inspired by how an Egyptian delegate carried himself, knowing everything about other countries, and believes that IUGB can reach that level soon.
Efforts are already being organized to build on the lessons learned from this first trip and improve for next year, with plans to possibly send more participants. For example, there are talks about creating a Model African Union Assembly to train students and develop a pool of candidates for future delegations.
For now, the same team is getting another opportunity to represent us in South Africa. They are writing an academic paper on their experience in Kenya and could present it at Cape Peninsula University of Technology’s (CPUT) Annual Joint Conference, Africanizing Student Affairs through Ubuntu: Infusing African Epistemology, in late May. They are currently awaiting the acceptance of their abstract.
We are incredibly proud of our students’ achievements and the impact they’ve made. We look forward to seeing what they accomplish next and the continued growth of IUGB on the global stage!
