David Sengeh isn’t a regular minister of education — he’s a cool minister of education. He’s known to join students on the pitch for impromptu soccer matches. He’s not prone to wearing suits — they don’t do so well during the soccer matches. He drops Eminem references into podcast interviews. And he’s not just Sierra Leone’s education minister — he’s also its chief innovation officer. All this, and he’s not even 40 years old.
Sengeh’s out-of-the-box thinking has been the key to his success. He was instrumental in overturning the country’s ban on educating pregnant girls, and his adherence to radical inclusion has made Sierra Leone’s education system a model on the continent.