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2017 Tutu Fellow Rosy Fynn has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director of First National Bank GH.  First National Bank traces it's roots back to Eastern Province Bank, which started in 1838 in South Africa, but over time evolved and changed ownership and in 1998 started being active in Ghana. It has commercial banks in nine African countries and the Ghana bank offers a wide range of banking products with a focus on digital banking. 

Rosy has extensive experience in the technology, financial services, consulting, and insurance industries, has been a senior executive at three major telecommunications companies, and heads a leading ISP in Ghana.

2019 Tutu Fellow Ronak Gopaldas has written a paper on the double-edged sword that COVID-19 presents to Africa. It is forcing a re-emphasis of the role and importance of the state in a post-COVID-19 era. Bigger government with an expanding reach and relevance has significant governance implications for Africa, which has a record and history of weak governance, ineffective institutions, limited resources, corruption, and mismanagement.

Ronak says that if Africa uses the pandemic effectively for effective structural transformation, it could usher in significant opportunity for political and economic improvement.  If not, pressures will intensify, leaving Africa floundering under the impact of economic and COVID-19-induced shocks.

For Africa Day 2021, the African Leadership Institute sent an open Letter to African Heads of State, calling on them to include more young people in governance. It held a Zoom meeting with a high-level panel on the current poor representation of young people in governance that was widely attended. The Open Letter is published at Publications. You can watch the full Zoom meeting on AFLI's YouTube Channel.

Globally, Africa has the youngest population in the world, yet many are unemployed or marginalised. The average age on the continent is 19, yet in 2018, the average age of African Heads of State was 64 and a half years old. In it's letter to heads of government, AFLI challenged them to rectify this disproportional state of affairs.

The Open Letter was also picked up by news media.

On 6 February 2021, 2016 Tutu Fellow Succès Masra PhD, sought shelter within the US Embassy security perimeter in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena. The President of the National Human Rights Commission negotiated his exit and the US Embassy received assurances from the government of Chad that Succès would not be arrested if he left the embassy grounds and would be allowed to return home unhindered.  Succès refused this negotiated settlement for only himself and instead demanded the release of his fellow companions who were arrested and charged during protests. The United States issued a statement emphasizing their commitment to defending democratic values, but asked Succès to leave, none the less.

The US has also called on the government of Chad to respect the rule of law, to respect the right of the people to demonstrate, and to ensure a transparent and fair judicial process for those persons detained following protests demanding social justice and political change.

2006 Tutu Fellow Aidan Eyakuze is listed among The Agile 50: The World’s 50 Most Influential People Revolutionising Governance 2020, which lauds politicians, civil servants and entrepreneurs who are driving agility in governments around the world. The list recognises “both high-profile icons and shines light on the unsung heroes whose work is indispensable in transforming government to respond to rapid technological change.” Apolitical made the announcement at the end of 2020.

It is compiled by Apolitical, an organisation that equips public servants to better do their jobs through courses, information, events and networking. It says that government is critical to solving global challenges, but that public servants often lack access to the best solutions because good ideas are often siloed in country's cities or sometimes even departments, leading to a duplication of effort, wasted taxpayer money, and poorer services.

Financing Alliance for Health - the company 2019 Fellow Dr Angela Gichaga leads - has developed a seven part series of courses on financing in public health. Financing Alliance serves government Ministries of Health and Ministries of Finance, globally, in building resilient and sustainably-financed health systems. At a time when the global coronavirus pandemic is affecting people everywhere, financing stretched public health systems is a hot topic, so the timing of the programme is fortuitous.

The newly-developed Financing Community Health Programs for Scale and Sustainability course presents an in-depth exploration of the financing value chain needed to understand resource needs as well as to mobilize resources for community health.

The governance committee of African Risk Capacity Limited has appointed 2014 Tutu Fellow Ladé Araba to join its Board of Directors. Ladé is the Managing Director for Africa at Convergence Finance. She is also the Co-Founder and President of the Visiola Foundation, which empowers African girls and young women through education, training, and mentoring in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields.  Also appointed to the board was Sarata Kone-Thiam.

African Risk Capacity (ARC) is a specialized agency of the African Union that was established to help African governments improve their capacities to better plan, prepare, and respond to extreme weather events and natural disasters.

The African Leadership Institute's Project Pakati launched its report titled The Greater Inclusion of African Youth in Public Service and Governance on August 12, International Youth Day 2020. The report is part of an ongoing partnership between the African Leadership Institute and the African Union Office of the Youth Envoy, to shift young Africans to the centre of the African development narrative. These efforts are being funded by a grant from the Ford Foundation.

The focus of this report is less on making the self-evident case for the need for young people to operate in governance and the policy realm, but rather on how progress can be accelerated and how African Union member states can achieve greater youth inclusion in public service and government.

2006 Tutu Fellow Kunyalala Maphisa has been appointed to the Council of the University of Cape Town. The appointment, which was made by the Minister of Higher Education, Bonginkosi (Blade) Nzimande, was made on 19 June 2020.  UCT Council members typically serve for four years.  Under the law governing the university, the Minister is entitled to appoint up to five people to the Council and the council's members recently began their 2020-2024 stint. 

The Council governs the university and its responsibilities include determining the mission, objectives, goals, strategies and policies for the progress of the institution. Kunyalala is a UCT alumnus, obtaining both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the university.

The basic freedoms of expression, association and assembly have come under unprecedented attack in Tanzania in recent years. New laws have been passed and are being enthusiastically enforced to discourage dissent or views critical or alternative to the official narrative. Journalists have been detained, charged, imprisoned or disappeared and feared dead. Individual citizens have been harassed, arrested, charged and fined for expressing themselves on social media.

Opposition political party activity has been severely curtailed – rallies are banned, leaders are tied up in court on charges of incitement. Apolitical civil society organizations, especially those working in governance and human rights face significant additional scrutiny presumably to encourage their obedience to the government’s agenda.

2013 Tutu Fellow Monica Musonda is taking over as Board Chair of Zambian Breweries. To avoid any real or perceived conflict of interest, Monica chose to leave ZamSugar prior to accepting the position at Zambian Breweries. ZamSugar supplies ingredients to some of Zambia's most popular beverages.

Monica took over the position from Valentine Chitalu, who has been the board chair for the past decade. In taking over the chair, she becomes the first female board chair of Zambian Breweries. Monica, who is the founder and CEO of Java Foods and a lawyer, is having a year in which her capability is being called upon by multiple organisations.  

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.

2008 Tutu Fellow Siza Majola makes the case in an essay written for African Business that stakeholder relationships could be managed in an African manner using practices from the Bafokeng.  They survived the negative effects of colonialism and apartheid and have emerged into the 21st century with a brighter future as the owners of vast mineral-rich land holdings.

There is no such thing, of course, as a 'grey rhino'.  2009 Tutu Fellow James Mwangi writes that he came across the the term in a piece on business in China and that he found it instructive.  In the piece, a grey rhino was analogous to highly probable, high-impact threats that people should see coming, but don't.  Writing about the threat of 'grey rhinos' in Africa for African Business, he looks at some of the factors that should be obvious to governments across the continent and which they have failed to address. 

Ten Tutu Fellows attended the annual governance conference organized by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, which took place in Accra, Ghana, in November 2015.  The theme of the 2015 conference was African urban dynamics.  A central goal of the foundation is to put governance at the centre of any conversation on African development. It holds that effective governance and leadership are key to improving the quality of life of Africans.