Tanzanian Presidential candidate and 2013 Tutu classmember, January Makamba gives his thoughts on leadership and an optimistic future for Africa in this interview. He would like to see an Africa that is dynamic, self-reliant and proud, and respected as such on the international stage. He emphasises that the role young Africans and, in particular, young African leaders play in shaping this future of Africa will be vital.
The following essay, titled "Just another African country: the challenge of leadership in Zambia and the poverty of ambition", was written by Tutu Fellow Linda Kasonde. It examines African leadership and more specifically, leadership in Zambia, as the country recently celebrated its 50th independence anniversary.
African Leadership Institute patron, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, recorded an inspirational message for the 2015 Mandela Day. Mandela Day is an annual day, celebrating the former South African President, Nelson Mandela's birthday. In his message, he showed how Nelson Mandela's approach of servant leadership could be a model for all to follow.
Tutu Fellow Victor Ochen has been endorsed for the 2015 Nobel Peace prize by Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni. Ochen and the organisation he founded, African Youth Initiative (AYINET), was jointly nominated earlier this year by the American Friends Service Committee. In it's nomination letter, the AFSC highlighted the impact of the conflict between the government of Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army. Millions of people have been detrimentally affected, including Ochen, who was a childhood victim of the war.
The Financial Times Magazine starts their list like this: From activists to a Premier League footballer . . . The FT’s Africa team picks the continent’s rising stars. The three Tutu Fellows included on the list of 25 are: Amy Jadesimi, Robtel Neajai Pailey, and Lai Yahaya. Lai is a 2009 Fellow, Robtel was the following year, and Amy is a 2012 Fellow. They are among stirling company.
Tutu Fellow Kopano Mabaso and fellow medical doctor Chrystelle Wedi, both Rhodes Scholars, have won the Aspen Idea Award for an idea they pitched at the event in Colorado in June 2015.
The idea, called Ona Mtoto Wako project, meaning "see your baby" in Swahili, will take lifesaving antenatal care to pregnant women in remote & rural parts of low and middle income countries. Pregnant women will be given an opportunity to come “see their baby” through a free ultrasound using a mobile ultrasound scan bus.
The U.S. Supreme Court has recently ruled that gays in the U.S. have the same legal rights in marriage as heterosexuals; in Nigeria, homosexuality is legally prohibited. With Nigeria's new President Muhammadu Buhari and U.S. President Barack Obama to meet this month (July 2015), newspapers in Nigeria are speculating whether gay rights will be on the summit agenda. Tutu Fellow Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani has penned a piece for CNN's African Voices on resistance in Nigeria and other African countries to equal rights for all as it pertains to gays. It is titled: Why are Nigerians terrified of same-sex marriage in America?
Tutu Fellow Jacqueline Muna Musiitwa will be serving on the board of Zambia's Central Bank. The Bank of Zambia is tasked with among other things ensuring appropriate monetary policy formulation and implementation, acting as the fiscal agent of the Government, and licensing, regulating and supervising banks and financial service institutions.
This piece was written by Tutu Fellow Samah Salman on the visit by President Omar Al-Bashir to South Africa and calls for him to be turned over to the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes. Although the piece has been overtaken by events and President Bashir has returned to the Sudan, calls for accountability within South Africa, including a legal injunction, cast a spotlight on the moral and ethical credentials - or lack thereof - of both governments. The article was originally published in Ventures.
Tutu Fellow Robtel Neajai Pailey wrote this op-ed on the unfair and persistent visa restrictions on nationals of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone based on an experience she had with the United Arab Emirates. It's since been published in several outlets including Thought Leader, Conversations on Liberia, and African Arguments. The piece is titled: "In a World Obsessed with Passport Tiers, Citizenship Is Personal and Political".
Tutu Fellow Lade Araba wrote this op ed, which was originally published in This is Africa.
With 62 percent of Nigerians under the age of 24 and 49 percent of its citizens women, Nigeria stands to benefit by harnessing the creativity and intellectual curiosity of young women.
By Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli, Associate Tutu Fellow. This post originally appeared in the Stanford Review.
There is growing global interest in opportunities for social change and profitable growth on the African continent. In 2015, 30 percent of the 3,165 applications for the Echoing Green Award were for initiatives focused on Africa, with Nigeria, Uganda, and Kenya listed as the top five countries after the United States and India.
The first Tutu Fellowship Leadership Programme Workshop of 2015 is under way in Cape Town, where 23 participants from all over Africa are honing their leadership skills, building their network and discovering new approaches to solving the problems the continent faces. The young leaders were selected from more than 250 nominees from more than 30 African countries and range from 29 to 40 years of age. The participants at this workshop represent the wealth and breadth of the talent Africa has to offer among its young leaders.
We, the Archbishop Tutu Fellows, unequivocally condemn the Afrophobic violence that has erupted in different places in South Africa. We condemn these episodes of violence as much as we condemn the violence experienced by the students and people of Garissa, Kenya; as much as we condemn the violent abduction of the girls in Chibok, Nigeria over a year ago; as much as we condemn war-related rape towards women in different war-torn parts of Africa; and as much as we condemn the violence into which young children are forced to become child soldiers.
10 African countries represented among 23 programme participants
The African Leadership Institute (AFLI) is proud to announce the 2015 intake of selected candidates for the prestigious Tutu Leadership Fellowship. Among more than 250 nominees from 32 African countries, 23 of Africa’s highest potential young leaders were selected to take part in the programme. Spanning more than 15 industries, representing 10 African countries, and ranging from 29 to 40 years of age, the selected candidates demonstrate the wealth and breadth of leadership talent that exists in Africa’s youth.
The African Leadership Institute (AFLI) is unique among leadership initiatives in that it focuses on building the capacity and capability of visionary and strategic leadership across the continent. Developing exceptional leaders representing all spheres of society, the Institute’s flagship programme is the prestigious Archbishop Tutu Leadership Fellowship. Offering a multifaceted learning experience and run in partnership with Oxford University, it is awarded annually to 20-25 carefully chosen candidates, nominated from across Africa. Alumni of the African Leadership Institute form a dynamic network of Fellows passionately committed to the continent’s transformation, bridging the divide between nations and ensuring that Africa is set centre-stage in global affairs.