African countries face a deficit of visionary leaders in the public sphere, due to a leadership culture that prioritises personal or parochial interests over the collective good. An estimated USD148b (over 5% of Africa’s total GDP) is lost every year to corruption and illicit financial flows. In addition to this, a political system that is built on corrupted behaviour pushes talented individuals away from public service, resulting in a political class that lacks competence and ethical fibre. This, in turn, drives poor economic and social outcomes.

SPPG offers a 33-week program across 6 thematic clusters: ethics, politics and democracy, economic policies, governance, public leadership, and running for political office. Classes are delivered virtually by a mix of academic experts and practitioners, using evidence-based content and participatory teaching. Students also collaborate offline on group-based capstone community projects, where they can apply their learnings to real-world issues. SPPG’s curriculum has been designed to address the specific knowledge and skill gaps that exist among public office holders in Nigeria (and Africa more broadly), as identified by research and analysis conducted by the #FixPolitics movement.

Since its launch in 2021, SPPG has graduated 480 students across three cohorts in Nigeria and aims to increase cohort sizes to 500-600 students. In 2023, it started its first international cohort in Senegal and plans to expand to Zimbabwe, Ghana, Cameroon, and Kenya within two years.

Out of 290 students who graduated over the first 2 cohorts, 55 were aspirants for elective offices in the primaries of various political parties for the 2023 Nigerian general elections, out of which 9 were selected to be on the ballot.