News
The latest news from the African Leadership Institute and its Fellows. AFLI Fellows are leaders and change-makers, so this section has a lot of news. All text in all of the posts is fully searchable.
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A former Pakati Youth Advisory Board member, Edward Ndopu, joins a storied group of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Advocates. On 9 May 2019, UN Secretary General António Guterres announced the new class for 2019. Edward (Eddie) Ndopu served on the Project Pakati Youth Advisory Board from June 2018 - January 2019. He is an internationally acclaimed, award-winning human rights advocate, and was recently named by MTV as one of the most powerful disabled people on the planet. Eddie is the former Head of Amnesty International’s Africa Youth Program and is a former Researcher for the World Economic Forum.
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The first workshop of the 2019 Archbishop Tutu Leadership Fellowship was held at the Mont Fleur Conference Centre from the 27th April to the 4th of May, 2019. The 23 Fellowship candidates came from some 250 nominees of outstanding excellence from over 30 African countries, and represented 11 different African countries - Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Gabon, Mali, South Africa, the Gambia, Tanzania, Ghana and Madagascar.
It was a memorable time of learning, introspection, forging deep relationships with peers and lots of laughter!
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2016 Tutu Fellow Dorothy Ghettuba Pala will be chairing the Board of the Kenya Film Commission (KFC) for the next three years. She was appointed to the position by President Uhuru Kenyatta on 3 May 2019. The KFC was established in 2005 to develop a vibrant local film and TV industry, and to position Kenya as a preferred filming destination for sustainable wealth and job creation. The KFC, led by its CEO Timothy Owase, congratulated Dorothy Ghettuba on her appointment on Twitter.
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Project Pakati staff attended the launch of the Africa Union Commission (AUC) 1 million by 2021 Initiative at the 2nd Pan-African Youth Forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from April 24-27. We were invited by the AUC and African Union Youth Envoy. The forum was attended by more than 400 youths representing more than 50 African countries. All were in favour of the newly-launched AUC 1 Million by 2021 Initiative, which was rolled out under the theme: Africa Unite for Youth: Bridging the gap and Reaching African Youth.
The initiative was headed by the AUC chair Moussa Faki Mahamat and is aimed at generating action for youth development in Africa by providing one million young Africans with opportunities in its four key areas.
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In August 2018, the African Leadership Institute launched its seminal report titled: An Abundance of Young African Leaders, but No Seat at the Table at Strathmore University in Nairobi, Kenya. Fast forward to 2019, AFLI launched a fully-searchable directory built on the data in the report. It lists all of the organisations providing leadership development training to young African leaders.
The problem with many directories, however, is finding anything useful. In the leadership directory, it is possible to search by any piece of text, by programme type, region, country, alphabetically, sponsors or a range of other datasets - and get a list.
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Two 2012 Fellows, Arinaitwe Rugyendo, the Director of Marketing & Digital Media at Pepper Publications Limited, and Vincent Bagiire, the Permanent Secretary in the Ugandan Ministry of Information and Communications Technology and National Guidance, have been appointed by President Yoweri Museveni as part of a 32-member team of experts picked from different sectors to spearhead Uganda’s journey in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Members of this National Task Force were selected from innovation hubs, the private sector, academia, civil society, Uganda’s development partners, and the government.
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The African Leadership Institute has a very strong cohort of emerging African leaders for the prestigious Tutu Leadership Fellowship for 2019. Amongst nearly 250 nominees of outstanding quality from more than 30 African countries, 23 of Africa’s highest potential new leaders were selected to take part in the programme. Including the candidates nominated by our sponsoring organisations, the candidates represent 12 different African countries, ranging in age 25 to 39 years of age, and span several industries. The selected candidates demonstrate the incredible wealth and breadth of leadership talent that exists in Africa’s youth.
The biographies of the 2019 candidates follow:
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The global streaming giant, Netflix, has recognised the talent of 2016 Fellow, Dorothy Ghettuba, and appointed her their Manager for International Originals. The appointment of the award-winning Kenyan CEO of Spielworks Media comes after Netflix announced in 2018 that it would commission original shows from Africa by 2019.
This move was intended to increase demand for the platform among viewers from Africa and eventually reduce the cost of access. “Telling our African stories. Onwards and Upwards,” said Ms Ghettuba in an Instagram post announcing her appointment.
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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa extended an invitation to 2013 Fellow and human rights activist Catherine Constantinides to attend the SADC Saharawi Summit in South Africa in March 2019. Catherine has for years worked on behalf of the Saharawi, who live in territory occupied illegally by Morocco.
The SADC Solidarity Conference with the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic started with a call for unity to ensure the right to freedom and self-determination of the people of the Western Sahara. It was attended by several heads of state, who took a stand for the Saharawi and expressed their support for decolonisation of the region and self-determination for Western Sahara on the basis of the values and principles that have guided the quest for independence throughout Africa.
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2006 Fellow Palesa Kadi has been appointed to chair the ICASA hearings on sport broadcasting rights. Palesa is a media activist, researcher and has worked as a regulator in the broadcasting and telecommunications space, where she serves as an ICASA councillor. ICASA is South Africa's broadcast regulator.
The hearings - and issue - is politically sensitive, as big-draw sport is currently mainly broadcast on expensive pay channels, locking out many ordinary South Africans from being able to watch sport on free-to-air TV.
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A piece I first began drafting when I served as an Ibrahim Leadership Fellow is appearing in the print edition of Africa Policy Journal on pan-African migration. Titled How Africa Can Adopt a Pan-African Migration and Development Agenda, AFLI has permission to share ahead of the journal's appearance, the abstract of the piece.
It looks at the potential upsides to allowing intra-African migration, which is largely seen in a negative light, if the continent adopted constructive policies around migration for development. Currently Africa has restrictive policies on migration.
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Refugees have long been excluded from financial services, leaving them struggling to integrate into host economies. But new technologies have made the lack of an identity card, loan collateral, or a fixed address irrelevant, and the world's displaced people may be only the first to benefit.
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As a woman CEO in the manufacturing sector, it’s been a lonely journey to say the least. When I started Java Foods, I didn’t realise how difficult it was going to be. I looked around me and most of the businesses were either multinationals or local businesses all run by MEN. At first, I thought it wasn’t an issue, after all, I was a maverick. But as months rolled on, I realized that I was in fact the odd one out.
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To develop and roll out projects Pakati has under way, AFLI has selected a number of ChangeLeads and ChangeMakers. It selected four ChangeLeads and 150 ChangeMakers for the Youth Representation Inclusion Project; and three ChangeLeads and 100 ChangeMakers for the Portal of African Youth-Led and Youth-Serving Organizations project.
The Project Pakati digital platform on Workplace by Facebook has gone live and they are now engaging in developing and co-creating solutions with other young leaders from across the continent. Project Pakati is pleased to announce the ChangeLeads who have committed to driving these two projects. Their profiles follow:
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Governance for AFLI's Pakati Project is provided by a Youth Advisory Board. As stated in the Board terms of reference, the position of co-chair is valid for a period of six months only. Thereafter, the board co-chairs together with the secretariat (AFLI) are required to vote in a new set of co-chairs. This rotational arrangement has been put in place to allow the young leaders of the youth advisory board to be exposed to the experience of chairing a board and to leverage the experience for their growth and development. The co-chairs will support each other to achieve the objectives of the project and it is up to them to decide how they will collaborate and delegate tasks between themselves.
The newly elected board co-chairs, Maudo Jallow and Wadi Ben-Hirki, commenced their term in February 2019 replacing Raphael Obonyo and Rumbi Gunduza.
Maudo Jallow
Maudo Jallow The Gambia Maudo Jallow is the founder of New Nation – a youth-driven initiative that seeks to advocate for the prioritisation of youth development and structural transformation in The Gambia.
He currently works with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) as an International Development Expert. Before that, Maudo worked with the United Nations Research Institute as part of the Social Policy & Development research team, between September and December 2017. He is also a contributor and writer for Future Africa Forum, which is an organization that exists to increase the voice and participation of young African people in policymaking, dialogue and implementation, as well as a platform for coming up with policies and agendas that advance the development of the African continent.
In the recent past, Maudo worked for the LSE Africa Summit as a Co-Director, and Press TV UK as a Contributor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in International Business with French and Economics and a Master's degree in African Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Wadi Ben-Hirki
Wadi Ben-Hirki is a development worker, writer, and public speaker. She is the Founder of Wadi Ben-Hirki Foundation, a registered non- profit organization in Nigeria. She is a strong believer of equity and justice. She believes everyone deserves a fighting chance and we are humans first before anything else so, we should treat one another with love and care.
Wadi holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Covenant University, Nigeria. She has been trained by the Satyagraha Institute on non-violence, peace building and conflict resolution, Youth Organizing School on policy advocacy & civic engagement. She currently sits on the African Leadership Institute Youth Advisory Board and serves as a Country Representative for the Chatham House Common Futures Conversations. Wadi is a ONE Champion and an Ashoka change maker. In 2017, she was the focal point for Canada High Commission’s #SheCANLead campaign in Nigeria. In 2016, she participated in the Africa Union’s Regional Consultation on Human Rights with a major focus on Women’s Rights. Wadi was a Youth Delegate at the Global Partnership for Education Financing Conference 2018 and served as a Special Guest on education & skills for the 21st century at the Y20 Summit 2018. She also participated in the 2018 United States Institute of Peace (USIP) Youth Leaders’ Exchange with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Wadi was one of the recipients of the World Youth Forum Award 2018 which was presented by H.E President AbdelFattah El-Sisi (President of Egypt). She was enlisted as one of the 100 Most Influential Young Africans in 2018. Some of her awards include Her Network Woman of the Future Award 2017, The Ebony Life TV Sisterhood Advocate and People’s Choice of the Year Awards 2017, Top 10 young people in Africa working towards achieving Gender Justice and Reconciliation Award and Civil Society Award 2017.
Wadi has been nominated on several occasions and has volunteered for a couple of organizations that focus on education, gender equality and peace. Her voice has been heard on Aljazeera, BBC, Agence-France Presse and La Nacion Etc.
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- The marathon for the freedom of the Saharawi
- Award-winning children's book gets a sequel
- Saving Wakanda from Creeping Dictatorship
- The Founding of AFLI
- Pakati puts out call for ChangeMakers and ChangeLeads
- Tutu Fellows' Statement on the Unrest in Zimbabwe
- Fellow wins 2018 African Literary Person of the Year
- Ebola update
- Fellows' agribusiness education project reaches new milestone
- Fellow recognised for her work on Sickle-cell Anaemia