Former and current AGNES chair persons (Prof. Dr. Romain Glèlè Kakaï and Dr Heather Marco) met with African alumni of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation on the sidelines of Humboldt award winners’ forum in Bonn (16-20 October, 2020). This meeting aimed to update their knowledge on AGNES, its programs and activities (https://agnes-h.org/programmes/) and to invite them to Join AGNES. They took the opportunity to discuss the coaching of highly qualified young African scholars for effective application to AGNES and AVH fellowships programmes.