Ousman Touray is a prominent youth leader whose focus is on development and who firmly believes of Pan Africanism. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Development Studies at the University of The Gambia.
He distinguished himself after a video of him emerged in which he talks about contemporary challenges facing the African continent and why its youth “have to stay in Africa, develop Africa and then show the world that Africa has a better image than the one they portray in the West”.
He recently completed a mentorship programme in Rwanda, a country where he is being awarded a scholarship for a post-graduate programme on public policies.
As an alumnus of UTG, the University community is honoured and proud of his work which stretches across the African continent, in providing socio-economic development content and pattern for growth. For this reason, the Vice Chancellor has chosen him as the Ambassador of University.
In the spirit of the above recital, Ousman will champion The Centre for Sustainable Development and Policy Studies (UTG Think Tank incubator), a hub for learning, debate and policy analysis. The key function of the Think Tank is to help government and key stakeholders understand issues of national and international concern and make informed decisions.
The Think Tank’s first outreach event would be a conference on youth leadership, the role of academia in addressing the gender gaps and the purpose of public policy. Prominent speakers are expected to attend the event, such as the former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the well-known Kenyan Lawyer and Pan Africanist Prof. P.L.O Lumumba and Prof. Iain Mclean, Director of the Centre for Public Policy, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.