Is China the new imperial power in Africa, or a partner with which Africa can advance its developmental interests?  This is a question that 2014 Tutu Fellow Isaac Fokuo examines in an essay for African Business.  The dominant narrative in Sino-African relations is that China's interest in Africa is confined to natural resources.  Fokuo goes further.  He says that African governments need to leverage China's engagement by implementing economic development policies as a catalyst for industrialisation.

We are excited to announce a new Tutu Fellows’ column in African Business magazine, with the inaugural piece appearing in the July 2017 issue.   In the column, the Tutu Fellows, as thought-leaders and influencers across the continent, will give their perspectives on the evolving realities of the continent. Lanre Akinola, Editor of African Business magazine, said "The column is a dedicated space for the thoughts and ideas of a new generation of leaders that need to be heard. The Tutu Fellows are already reshaping the face of leadership on the continent, and we are delighted and honoured to be able to make this platform available."

Several Tutu Fellows were invited in their various capacities as part of an effort to showcase another face of Africa, that of African entrepreneurs.  The session they attended comes ahead of the leaders summit of the G20 on 7 July.   Many countries in Africa already have strong political and economic partnerships with the G20.  Input ahead of the July meeting was sought on new options for boosting sustainable economic growth, investment and stability in Africa. 

Tutu Fellow Sello Hatang has been honoured by the city of Buenos Aires in recognition for his work at the Nelson Mandela Foundation, which he leads.  He was given an honorary diploma by the city, which is Argentina's largest, and declared a Guest of Honor.  The honor is not lightly bestowed and is the first to be awarded since 2015.

Climate change an humanitarian activist Catherine Constantinides was invited to address the Italian parliament as part of a conference on sustainability and the impact of climate change.  Constantinides, a 2013 Fellow, was invited by the Istituto Agronomico per l'Oltremare, a technical and scientific body of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

2015 Tutu Fellow Goriola Erogbogbo has been selected for the prestigious U.S. State Department's International Visitors Leadership Program.  The IVLP is the U.S. Department of State’s premiere professional exchange programme. Through short-term visits to the United States, the US seeks to engage current and emerging foreign leaders from a variety of fields and thereby cultivate lasting relationships between these leaders and their American counterparts.

Two 2016 Tutu Fellows, Amanda Gicharu and Jon Kornik, have been selected for the final one thousand candidates for UNLEASH 2017. Each year, UNLEASH sets up global innovation labs in which they bring together this group and get them working on themes such as water, food, energy, sustainable consumption and production and others. The large number offers UNLEASH the ability to tap some of the best minds of a generation and obtain critical mass on social issues. 

2016 Tutu Fellow Jon Kornik has joined the ranks of the 2017 Echoing Green Fellowship.  Thirty six people were named by the global organisation as Fellows in the class of 2017.  They include people turning chicken feathers into sustainable home insulation; creating pathways for underground distributors of cannabis to enter the legal cannabis industry; and equipping communities with data on police violence.

The African Diaspora has seen some of Africa's top talent leave the continent and go abroad.  To tap into this talent and provide these scatterlings of Africa with a way to network and remain engaged with the continent, 2017 Tutu Fellow 'Bosun Tijani launched the CcHub Diaspora Challenge.  The international project offers up to $250 thousand to be made available to African diaspora businesses that provide solutions to social challenges on the continent.

An experimental Ebola vaccine may be used in the outbreak in the remote northeastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.  2017 Tutu Fellow Yap Boum is an epidemiologist with Epicentre Africa, the organization that has helped to set up a vaccine trial protocol with the Congolese government. Trial protocols are required for approval for use of an experimental drug. If granted, the vaccine could be used within weeks. 

2015 Tutu Fellow Landry Signé has published a new book titled Innovating Development Strategies in Africa.  It looks at international, regional and national drivers that play a role in African policy and economic transformation and the shift from state-led strategies to regional economic integration.  Signe reviews and analyses postcolonial strategies for economic development and provides an explanation of policy innovations since the 1960s.  A focus is Francophone Africa, where he provides detailed case studies. 

2008 Tutu Fellow Elsie Kanza helped organise and stage the successful WEF Forum On Africa, which was held in Durban earlier this year.  For fashion watchers, they'll have noted that the Senior Director and Head of Africa at WEF was wearing Kisua, founded by Sam Mensah, another Tutu 2008 Fellow and who is becoming a global fashion force.  As colleagues from the same leadership cohort, Kanza not only looked the part, but was able to show off an outfit of his surrounded by heads of state and other African leaders.  This kind of high visibility is not out of line for Mensah's brand, which has just launched a new Kisua shop in Menlyn Mall in Pretoria. 

2007 Tutu Fellow 'Gbenga Sesan, a tech entrepreneur and educator, has a program underway in which he is turning Nigerian hackers into tech entrepreneurs.  With 43% of Nigerian youth unemployed, it is little wonder some have turned to cybercrime.   His organisation, Paradigm Initiative Nigeria, is retraining them to use technology constructively.  "If you're smart enough to scam, you're smart enough to design an app", he says. One hacker he has worked with has created an app for patients to view their medical records in real time, another to help protect young people from inappropriate online content.  The work he is doing with Nigeria's 'Yahoo Boys' was highlighted by the WEF on Africa. 

2013 Tutu Fellow Jumoke Oduwole is working on reforms that should have a dramatic impact on the economy of the country. Expectations are ambitious: for Nigeria to move 20 places up in the World Bank 'Doing Business' Rankings by October 2017, and into the Top 100 by 2019.  As a senior advisor to the Nigerian Vice President on Trade & Investment, who in turn has an executive role in transforming the economy, many of the changes will make it easier for micro, small and medium sized businesses (MSMEs) to do business in the country. 

2013 Tutu Fellow Monica Musonda has won the 2017 African Agribusiness of the Year Award.  The African Agribusiness Entrepreneur of the Year Award recognizes entrepreneurs who have demonstrated outstanding achievements in agricultural input and value-added industries, serving food and fiber production in Africa. The award is conferred by Market Matters every year to an agribusiness entrepreneur whose efforts have made a outstanding positive impact on African rural communities.