Latest News

The Archbishop Tutu Fellows are a strong network of exceptional young African leaders from 42 countries, with a shared commitment to help transform Africa, our continent. The Tutu Fellows are deeply concerned about the arbitrary arrest and detention of youth activist Dr Peter Biar Ajak and re-iterate their call for his immediate release.  Peter Biar Ajak, a 2016 Tutu Fellow, is an academic and peace and human rights activist. He is the coordinator of South Sudan Young Leaders Forum, Senior Adviser for the International Growth Centre and Founder of the Juba-based Centre for Strategic Analyses and Research. He was also instrumental to the development of South Sudan Vision 2040.

2006 Tutu Fellow Aidan Eyakuze is warning Tanzanianians that the loss of open discourse in the country could lead to a breakdown of the country's ability to be fully democratic. Eyakuze, who heads the East African civic organisation Twaweza, begins his piece by ticking off positive campaign promises President John Magafuli kept on rolling back corruption in the country. He goes on to say in his piece in Civicus that the acclaim President Magafuli obtained early in his term when his approval rating soared to 96% obscures other decisions that are troubling.

Three months into his President Magafuli's rule, live radio and TV broadcasts were stopped. Magafuli's government has also banned political rallies and meetings.

The African Leadership Institute report, An Abundance of Young African Leaders but no Seat at the Table, will be launched at Strathmore University, Nairobi on August 28, 2018.  It is the result of funding from the Ford Foundation with AFLI as the grantee and Strathmore University as its partner.

For Africa to realise her full potential, leadership initiatives that focus on the targeted development and the continuous nurturing of young people’s leadership capacities are crucial. Whilst a plethora of leadership development offerings exist on the continent, there has not been, to date, a holistic view of what these initiatives are. This study, therefore, represents an important step towards filling gaps in extant knowledge.

2016 Tutu Fellow Peter Biar Ajak has been arrested in South Sudan by the South Sudan National Security Service. He has been held since 28 July 2018 without any charges being made public by the South Sudanese government. He is a Harvard and Cambridge graduate who has worked for peace in South Sudan and built bridges using a common passion in the country, wrestling. He recently formed the Center for Strategic Analyses and Research in Juba, South Sudan, a policy think tank that has at times been critical of the government. Peter has called for a grass roots movement to hold the government accountable on peace and has met with a broad range of groups to promote conversations amongst rivals as a means of establishing trust and a pathway to peace.

Later this month, Moroccan King Mohamed VI will travel to Nouakchott, Mauritania to participate in the 31st African Union Summit. It will be only the third summit that Morocco has attended since its re-admission to the African Union in early 2017.

Morocco withdrew itself from the African Union (the Organisation of African Unity; OAU) in 1984 to protest against the admission of Western Sahara as a full member of the organization. Morocco's relationship with Western Sahara is a complicated one. In 1975, Morocco invaded the territory following the withdrawal of the Spanish colonial administration.

A strong group of Tutu Fellows have worked tirelessly and volunteered their time in the production of the forthcoming  Africa Innovation Summit which will take place from June 6-8, 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda. The patrons of the event are President Paul Kagame and the former President of Cabo Verde, Pedro Pires.  The 2018 Summit will be a multifaceted event that will bring together stakeholders from various sectors, including decision-makers to seek innovative and disruptive solutions for the challenges facing African countries.

By day, 2015 Tutu Fellow Wiebe Boer is an impact investor who works with partners to increase access to commercial energy products and services.  By night - or in his spare time - he is a Nigerian football historian. 

Dr Wiebe Boer's latest work on Nigerian football, a book titled The History of Football In Nigeria - A story of Heroes and Epics, is to launch in Lagos on 10 June 2018.  It's been favorably reviewed by no less than Aliko Dangote, the President and CEO of the Dangote Group. 

2010 Tutu Fellow Lorna Irungu–Macharia has been appointed new Managing Director of The Gina Din Group, Africa's most-awarded communications agency. Lorna, who prior to taking on this role ran her own boutique communications firm, brings deep industry experience to the role. With more than 20 years of work experience, Lorna is well versed in media and event management, crisis communication, strategy, and brand development. Her work has focused on clients with a strong social impact mission across private, public and social sectors and is a key part of experience she will be bringing to the role.

2018 Tutu Fellow Omoni Oboli shot an informal video of the first Tutu Leadership Programme workshop at Mont Fleur and its surrounds.  She edited it together afterwards and it includes a candid stream of consciousness view of the workshop. The video shows some light-hearted moments that gently poke fun at the deep moments of introspection that took place among the attendees.

The video includes the group's visit to Robben Island where political prisoners were held during the Apartheid years, sessions in the workshop, and periods when candidates were given time to think in the beautiful surroundings.

2017 Tutu Fellow Stacey Brewer will be opening her 16th educational facility in 2019 in Witpoortjie, South Africa. Stacey is the co-founder of SPARK Schools, an independent school network that she started in 2012 with Ryan Harrison. They believed that an innovative approach could disrupt the crisis in South African education and dedicated themselves to creating a new model that would provide access to high quality education for all.  The network keeps school fees as low as possible. Despite this, the network has schools rated among the top 10 private schools in Johannesburg.

Tutu Fellow Hopewell Chin’ono, is set to premiere a new documentary film entitled State of Mind in Harare in June 2018. The film by the award-winning Zimbabwean journalist and documentary filmmaker highlights an untold story of how Zimbabweans address mental illness in their communities.

State of Mind will launch in Harare with an introduction by Graca Machel.

2017 Tutu Fellow Natalie Jabangwe has been selected by the World Economic Forum as a 2018 Young Global Leader.  She joins one hundred of the world’s most promising artists, business leaders, public servants, technologists and social entrepreneurs in their community of Young Global Leaders. The honour goes beyond just being selected for a list.  Natalie joins both a community in a five-year programme that will challenge them to think beyond their scope of expertise and be more impactful leaders.

2012 Fellow Ada Osakwe has been honored as one of the 2018 MIPAD Global Top 100 list. MIPAD is short for Most Influential People of African Descent, and she was selected for the Business and Entrepreneurship Category. MIPAD was started in support of the International Decade for People of African Descent by the UN. She joins two other Tutu Fellows who have been selected for this honour since MIPAD began.  In 2017, Ada's 2014 classmate, Ntombenhle Khathwane, and 2013 Fellow Ally Angula, were selected.

2014 Tutu Fellow Sello Hatang has secured the former President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, to deliver the 16th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture. President Obama, who made an emotional address at Mandela’s funeral years after meeting him in 2005, will speak at the lecture marking 100 years since the anti-apartheid icon was born.  The Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture is one of the Foundation’s flagship programmes to honour its founder, Nelson Mandela. Every year since 2003, global leaders have used the lecture to raise topical issues affecting South Africa, Africa and the rest of the world.

The Youth Advisory Board for the Ford Foundation funded Pan African leadership project will play a critical role in the governance of the project. The board has been intentionally constituted up front at the start of the grant project to provide strategic inputs and provide overall guidance of the project and its implementation.

Two ex officio members will sit on the board in addition to the eminent young Africans on the board. The first is a member of AFLI - which is the grant recipient.  The second is a member of the African Union Commission’s Youth Division.

In addition to the Board, the leadership project is assembling partners with which to work on an online platform to build a curated community of practice.  Various African youth initiatives will be set up for collaboration to be explored, and experiences and best practices documented and shared.  This will facilitate learningacross and between progammes. The curators will play a key role in steering these efforts and announcements will be made regarding this in coming weeks.  

The board for this project follows: