The Tutu Fellowship Class of 2025

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The Tutu Fellowship Class of 2025

The African Leadership Institute is delighted to announce the Associates who have been selected for the 2025 cohort of the Tutu Fellowship programme. It is a pleasure to be welcoming this group of exceptional African leaders, who emerged from the more than 900 nominations received.

This year’s cohort includes associates from 10 countries spanning the continent, from Algeria to South Africa. Their current endeavours span the domains of private business, public governance and civil society, and their areas of influence range from finance and technology to human rights and agriculture.

This rich diversity of nationalities, professions and perspectives is a defining feature of the programme’s learning experience. These associates demonstrate the incredible wealth and breadth of Africa’s leadership talent and the programme is committed to strengthening their capacity as catalysts for positive, transformative impact across the continent.

A snapshot of each of the Associates for 2025 can be viewed below and announcement of the cohort is also posted on the AFLI site at News.

Adebowale Adeyeye PhD
Nigeria

Founder & CEO
Creativo EL Matador

Adebowale Adeyeye is the founder of Creativo EL Matador Limited, an agricultural value-chain optimisation company that ensures international market access for smallholder farmers. His company runs the only fully African-owned and operated cashew processing plant in Nigeria, and promotes value-added African agricultural products.

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Alexander Tsado
Nigeria

Executive Director
Alliance4AI.org Africa

For the past decade, Alex Tsado has championed initiatives making AI cheaper and accessible for innovators worldwide. He deployed the first Nvidia AI GPUs to the largest cloud providers globally, and now focuses on putting Africa on the AI innovation table. He is working with key African governments to operationalize their AI strategies and establish large-scale AI clusters within Africa.

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Amaka Anku
Nigeria

Head, Africa Practice
Eurasia Group

Amaka Anku helps clients understand the interaction of politics, policy, and markets across Africa. Eurasia Group is a global political advisory and consulting firm, with clients that include global market participants and multinational firms with operations in Africa. Her own research focuses on Nigerian politics, African regional trends, and comparative global politics.

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Angie Madara
Kenya

CEO
Athena FundX

Angie Madara is a technology entrepreneur, investor, and advocate for women in technology entrepreneurship. As the founder of Athena FundX, Angie is empowering women in the tech industry through the 1 Million Women in Entrepreneurship Campaign. Her mission is to provide free tech entrepreneurship training to one million women worldwide, reshaping the entrepreneurial landscape and driving social change on a global scale. 

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Anisse Terai
Algeria

Chief Executive Officer, Middle East and North Africa
Energy Pool

Anisse Terai is the Chief Executive Officer, Middle East and Africa for Energy Pool, a multinational energy technology solutions company. He is an Affiliated Professor and the Scientific Advisor of the MBA Energy & Strategy at ESAA Business School in Algiers. He is an expert of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), energy transition, and multilateral affairs, including BRICS, G20 and the WTO.

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Christopher Pappas
South Africa

Mayor
uMngeni Municipality

Christopher Pappas is the Mayor of uMngeni Local Municipality. He is a South African politician who made history in 2019 by becoming the youngest member of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature. In 2021, he was elected as the first Democratic Alliance (DA) Mayor of KwaZulu-Natal, also becoming the youngest mayor in the country at that time. In his time as Mayor, the municipality has obtained two clean audits, and is debt-free, while investing in local economic development.

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Clara Wanjiku Odero
Kenya

CEO
Credrails

Clara Wanjiku Odero is the CEO of Credrails. She is a fintech entrepreneur with a career that in the past decade has seen her work at three startups all produce massive growth. Her area of expertise is expansion of private sector initiatives within countries and across borders across Africa.  She launched a mentorship community for her former secondary school and is herself a PeaceJam Fellow. The PeaceJam Fellowship is one in which Nobel Laureates mentor young people to change the world.

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Diaraye Diallo
Guinea

Regional Delivery Manager
Tony Blair Institute

Diaraye Diallo, the Regional Delivery Manager at the Tony Blair Institute, is a project development and implementation professional with more than 14 years of experience in both the private and public sectors. Through her work with the Tony Blair Institute, she has advised and supported governments on critical projects, with profound impacts on infrastructure and social justice across West Africa.

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Fiona Wanjiku Moejes
Kenya

CEO / Co-Founder
The Mawazo Institute / Mawimbi Ocean Innovations

Fiona Moejes is the CEO at The Mawazo Institute – a women-led organisation supporting African women researchers to become thought-leaders and changemakers beyond academia. She is also the co-founder of Mawimbi Ocean Innovations, which provides access to “seaweed-farming-as-a-service” for thriving and climate-resilient coastal communities in East Africa.

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Hemisha Lakhoo
South Africa

Head of Subsidiary Banking, Sub-Saharan Africa
J.P. Morgan

Hemisha Lakhoo leads the Subsidiary Banking business for J.P Morgan in Sub-Saharan Africa, serving the firm’s global multinational corporates that operate in region. She is responsible for managing the team and the business to holistically serve large and mid-cap clients across Cash & Liquidity Management, Trade, Lending and FX. She is also a Chartered Accountant.

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Hilda Kabushenga
Uganda

CEO
The African Talent Company

Hilda Kabushenga is the CEO of The African Talent Company (TATC), where she oversees four career platforms: Jobberman in Nigeria and Ghana and Brighter Monday in Kenya and Uganda. TATC collaborates with over 100,000 employers, five million job seekers, and several multilateral organizations to develop local solutions to youth unemployment and enhance workplace productivity.

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Ifeoma Finnih
Nigeria

Director
Chapel Hill Denham

Ifeoma Finnih is a Director at Chapel Hill Denham (CHD), a leading independent Nigerian investment banking and investment management firm. In her Infrastructure and Climate investment team, she deploys long-term, local currency financing from the Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund (NIDF) to advance critical infrastructure projects that foster economic growth and sustainable development.

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John Njuguna
Kenya 

Group Director, Strategy & Capital Allocation
Equity Group Holdings PLC

John Njuguna is the Group Director, Strategy & Capital Allocation for Equity Group Holding PLC (EGH), a financial services conglomerate headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. EGH also has a presence in Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Ethiopia. At the Group, John advises on the most efficient allocation of resources - including capital - both across existing and new business lines to maximise shareholder return. This includes mergers and acquisitions both in existing and new markets.

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Mari Rabie
South Africa

Strategic Enablement Head
Rand Merchant Bank

Mari Rabie is the Strategic Enablement Head at Rand Merchant Bank (RMB).  In this role, Mari partners with the CEO Office and Executive in the execution of key strategic priorities. She is a double Olympian and a Rhodes Scholar. She has co-founded an athleisure brand and serves on the Sport Science Institute of South Africa board and the Southern African Association of Rhodes Scholars committee.

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Mohamed Zahir Alimohamed PhD
Tanzania

Lecturer and Research Scientist
Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences

Mohamed Alimohamed PhD is a Lecturer and Research Scientist at Muhimbili University. He is investigating advanced therapies and curative options for Sickle Cell Disease that include gene editing for patients in Tanzania. He serves as the secretary general of the Tanzania Human Genetics Organization and is also involved in the surveillance of rare genetic disorders in Tanzania.

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Namakando Simamuna
Zambia

Advisor-Advocacy and Partnerships
Marie Stopes Zambia

Namakando Simamuna is a demographer serving as Advisor: Advocacy and Partnerships at Marie Stopes Zambia, where she leads development and implementation of advocacy strategies and formation of strategic partnerships for reproductive health that include maternal heath, family planning, adolescent health, health financing and more. She co-established PEPETA Zambia, and she serves as the Board Chairperson of Contact Trust Youth Association.

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Nana Opoku Ware Ofori Agyeman-Prempeh
Ghana

Co-founder and CEO
GrowForMe Limited

Nana Opoku Ware Ofori Agyeman-Prempeh has more than a decade's experience in fintech, agritech, and technology and his entrepreneurship has been focused on developing tech solutions for underserved markets.  He successfully deployed the first farmer-centric service on the largest mobile money platform in Ghana, providing farmers with a ready market, inputs, training, insurance, loans and savings.

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Narassa Govender
South Africa

Corporate Social Investment Director
Ninety One

Narassa Govender serves as the Corporate Social Investment (CSI) Director at Ninety One, where she leads global initiatives focused on economic inclusion. Her latest initiative is the creation of the Ninety One Accelerator in support of The Earthshot Prize. Before assuming her current role, she spent four years in the company's Product Development team.

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Nzwaki Adonisi
South Africa

Senior Specialist for Dignity Protection
Anglo American Platinum

Nzwaki Adonisi is the Senior Specialist for Dignity Protection at Anglo American Platinum, where where she drives strategic interventions to prevent and respond to gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) across operations and communities. She has led and designed pan-African projects including sustainable and inclusive finance and impact investing; gender equity; food security; gender-based violence prevention; climate justice; and dismantling structural racism.

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Sage Rutakaza Mudekereza
Democratic Republic of the Congo

Executive Director
Sage Entrepreneurs Academy

Sage Rutakaza Mudekereza is the founder and Executive Director of Sage Entrepreneurs Academy which has trained more than 30 thousand aspiring entrepreneurs since 2009, helping them develop essential skills for success. In 2021, he launched Uzima Foods, which has provided more than 100 thousand meals to local communities. He has also served as Advisor in charge of SMEs and local investments at the DRC Chamber of Commerce in South Kivu Province.

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Sarah Nakame
Uganda

Founder and Chief Inspiration Officer
Audacious Africa

Sarah Nakame is the founder and Chief Inspiration Officer at Audacious Africa, a Ugandan-based organization working for sustainable and ecological food systems. She is a development management practitioner by profession, an indigenous food programmer and activist committed to ensuring Ugandan communities have autonomy over their well-being, and their food systems.

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Sipha Ndawonde
South Africa

Head of Portfolio Value Creation
Next176

Sipha Ndawonde is a venture capitalist with 15 years of experience in building and scaling early-stage companies across South Africa, the UK, and the US. He currently serves as the Head of Portfolio Venture Creation at Next176, managing over R1 trillion in assets across 14 countries. Next176 is the corporate venture capital arm of Old Mutual, one of Africa's leading financial services companies.

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Tlhokomelo Dube
South Africa

Group Strategy
Investec

Tlhokomelo Dube serves as a member of the Group Strategy team at Investec, where she collaborates closely with the Group CEO and executive team to develop and implement strategic initiatives. With 17 years of experience in financial markets, Tlhoki brings a wealth of expertise to her role, including corporate, institutional banking, and treasury risk management.

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Vanessa Ndebele
South Africa

Manager Business Improvement
South32

Vanessa Ndebele is a seasoned mining engineer with more than 15 years of experience in mine development, design, planning, and execution, and is the Manager of Business Improvement at South32 Hotazel Manganese Mining Consortium. Her career spans major mining companies such as BHP Billiton, Anglo American Kumba Iron Ore, and South32, working across commodities such as coal, manganese, and iron ore. 

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