2014 Tutu Fellow Isaac Fokuo and 2006 Tutu Associate Ndidi Nwuneli have been appointed members of the 2022-2023 Sub-Saharan Africa Advisory Committee at the US EXIM Bank. Isaac was appointed to represent Banking and Finance and Ndidi for Trade/Commerce.
The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) is the nation’s official export credit agency with the mission of supporting American jobs by facilitating U.S. exports.
The first Tutu Talk of 2022 - in partnership with the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation - features Aidan Eyakuze, a 2006 Tutu Fellow and Executive Director of TWAWEZA East Africa. Hear how this Tanzanian activist unpacks the essence of courageous leadership and the humility needed to do what is just.
Aidan says that “I took that courage of conviction and action from the Arch. It’s not about you. Humility isn’t about thinking less of yourself. It is about thinking of yourself, less. Understanding you have a deep worth as a human being, talents and skills. Humility is employing those skills for the greater good. From there comes a great strength.”
2006 Tutu Fellow Palesa Kadi has been appointed as Chairperson of the South African Geographical Names Council at the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture. The South African Geographical Names Council (SAGNC) is the body that receives recommendations from provincial names committees and advises the government on new geographical names as well as the changing of existing geographical names.
Changing some of the country's many colonial or apartheid-legacy names formed part of a call made by the arts and culture minister in 2021 for an audit of offensive names and also to write black people into South Africa's history.
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.
2006 Tutu Fellow Aidan Eyakuze has been elected as Civil Society Co-Chair of the Open Government Partnership (OGP). Aidan is the Executive Director of the policy and civil society nonprofit, Twaweza, in Tanzania. Twaweza works to demonstrate how citizens can come together to collectively address their problems and make government work better for them.
His term as Lead Co-Chair alongside the government of Italy will begin next year. Until then, and in collaboration with the government of Italy, he will support the new Lead Co-Chair, Maria Baron, the Executive Director of Directorio Legislativo, and the government of South Korea, to advance the work of the Open Government partnership.
2007 Tutu Fellow Ipeleng Mkhari is the Founder and CEO of Motseng Investment Holdings which partnered with Malani Padayachee and Associates (MPA) to acquire 100% equity of Mott MacDonald Africa, a South African engineering entity, to create South Africa’s largest black and women owned consulting engineering company. Ipeleng will be the Chairperson of the new entity, MPAMOT, which has the potential to become a beacon for women in an industry that continues to be male dominated.
Another Tutu Fellow, Kunyalala Maphisa, was the Lead Advisor on the transaction. Kunya is a 2006 Tutu Fellow and the Principal Partner at Brighton Wealth as well as the President of the Black Women's Association of South Africa, BWASA.
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.
2006 Tutu Fellow Aidan Eyakuze has co-authored an academic article which was published in the Local/ Global Encounters Journal in February 2020. Co-authored with Khalifa Said, a freelance investigative journalist based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the article is titled The Weaponization of Identity and Citizenship: The Case of Tanzania. The article explores the weaponization of identity and citizenship in Tanzania, which is becoming increasingly authoritarian. Aidan is an economist and heads Twaweza East Africa.
It illustrates the types of discrimination that a citizen can face for not affiliating with the ruling political party. Penalties range from unemployment to statelessness; even refugees escaping persecution can’t find refuge and are expelled in such a climate.
2006 Fellow Palesa Kadi has been appointed to chair the ICASA hearings on sport broadcasting rights. Palesa is a media activist, researcher and has worked as a regulator in the broadcasting and telecommunications space, where she serves as an ICASA councillor. ICASA is South Africa's broadcast regulator.
The hearings - and issue - is politically sensitive, as big-draw sport is currently mainly broadcast on expensive pay channels, locking out many ordinary South Africans from being able to watch sport on free-to-air TV.
In a TEDx Lagos talk, 2006 Tutu Fellow Janah Ncube speaks about the power of the general public in directing economic and even political agenda through the concept of collective action. She challenges the audience through case studies that show how collective action can have had significant impact in policy making.
Janah makes the case that Africans can bring changes themselves rather than looking for others to provide solutions or for elected political leaders to do so. She describes the concept of collective action as several individuals working together for the same goal and putting together all their ideas, thoughts, skills and resources towards it.
