Kenya's CHRP Quresha Abdullahi Makes History as East Africa HR Federation First President at Arusha Summit
Kenya's human resource profession has recorded one of its most significant regional milestones in years after CHRP Quresha Abdullahi, MBS, Executive Director of the Institute of Human Resource Management (IHRM) Kenya, was appointed the inaugural President of the newly established East Africa HR Federation. The announcement was made at the 2nd Africa Human Resource Summit (AHRS 2026), which is under way at the Mount Meru Hotel in Arusha.
The four-day gathering, convened under the theme "Transforming Africa's Workforce for the Future," has assembled human resource leaders, policymakers and practitioners drawn from across African nations. This platform is designed as the continent's foremost forum for shaping the future of work and is the point at which Africa's HR community moves from parallel national conversations to a shared continental agenda.
The summit is hosted by the Tanzania HR and Administration Professionals Association (THRAPA) and powered by the Africa HR Confederation (AHRC), assembling under the rallying call "One Africa, One HR." This slogan is an appeal for HR professionals and their associations to converge behind a cohesive approach to people management that would lift Africa's standing within the global HR fraternity.
The very nature of work on the continent has been altered fundamentally by technology, demographic dynamics and shifting economic realities. Against that backdrop, African HR practitioners can no longer confine themselves to administrative roles but must drive transformation directly by building the capacity of the continent's population, instituting the policies and infrastructure that enable high performance and productivity, and collaborating across jurisdictions to ease the movement of labour.
Quresha Abdullahi's appointment speaks to precisely that ambition. The federation she will lead has been formed to strengthen HR practice within the East African Community, deepen regional cooperation and drive the harmonization of professional standards across partner states. Kenya's elevation to regional HR leadership was not accidental. The country has made great strides having in place a statutory footing through the Human Resource Management Professionals Act, Cap 538, which provides the legal foundation regulating HR practice in Kenya. Compliance deadlines under that law have accelerated professionalization across organizations and industries.
Speaking at the summit on behalf of the IHRM Council, National Chairman CHRP Odero Phillip Dalmas welcomed the honour accorded to Kenya through Quresha’s appointment, describing it as a recognition of the standing the country's HR profession has earned within the region. He assured delegates of Kenya's continued collaboration with sister associations across the continent as the new federation takes shape.
Beyond the appointment, the AHRS 2026 agenda have been structured around the pressures reshaping Africa's workforce. Delegates have examined how emerging technologies can be harnessed to modernize HR practice, how skilled workers might move more seamlessly within regional economic communities, and how African talent can be developed to meet twenty-first century workplace demands. Sessions have also addressed the design of cohesive policy frameworks capable of supporting continental integration, alongside the workforce implications of climate resilience and educational transformation. The speaker line-up has combined international HR thought leaders with African practitioners presenting strategies drawn from their own markets.
The summit's emphasis on labour mobility has arrived at an opportune moment. Only days before delegates convened in Arusha, Tanzania assumed the chairmanship of the Regional Technical Advisory Committee on Labour Mobility for East and Horn of Africa countries, taking over from Uganda at a handover ceremony held in Dodoma on 17 August and attended by permanent secretaries and technical experts from labour, immigration and foreign affairs institutions, alongside private sector and development partners. The convergence of that intergovernmental process with the new federation's professional mandate is a unique alignment between political will and practitioner capability.
Looking further ahead, Nigeria will host the 3rd Africa HR Summit in 2027, sustaining the rotational hosting arrangement among African nations. In a separate declaration, Rwanda was named host of the World Federation of People Management Associations (WFPMA) World Congress in 2028 a decision widely interpreted as recognition of Africa's rising influence within the global people management community, given the WFPMA's standing as the sector's worldwide umbrella body.
For Kenya's HR community, the implications of Quresha’s appointment are practical as much as symbolic. The country now occupies a seat from which regional HR policy and practice will be shaped; its statutory model stands to inform harmonization debates; local practitioners gain broader access to continental knowledge-sharing platforms; and federation structures could, in time, smooth the cross-border movement of certified professionals within the EAC.
Word of the appointment has been met with a wave of congratulatory messages and goodwill from across Kenya and beyond, with professionals, colleagues and industry figures publicly saluting Quresha on her elevation to the regional role. The 2nd Africa HR Summit runs through 22 August 2026 at the Mount Meru Hotel.