News
The latest news from the African Leadership Institute and its Fellows. AFLI Fellows are leaders and change-makers, so this section has a lot of news. All text in all of the posts is fully searchable.
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- Written by: Norman Smit
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2018 Tutu Fellow Nozipho Tshabalala is launching her book, After the Fires - Unlocking the Power of Letting Go. The book, which is published by Johathan Ball, was launched in Cape Town in mid September 2025.
Nozipho is a communications professional, perhaps best known for her role as a moderator of high-level panels for global and African institutions and in leading conversations of change at corporations and civil society organisations. She is in demand for her unique and insightful ability to facilitate difficult conversations with courage, depth, and breadth.
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- Written by: Norman Smit
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2008 Tutu Fellow Girma Amente PhD has been appointed as the African Union's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation. The AU's Permanent Mission in Geneva represents the continental body in multilateral negotiations and policy discussions on trade, development, and global governance.
Girma’s appointment was made in August 2025 by AU Chair Mahamoud Ali Yousouf. Previously, Girma had served as the Minister of Agriculture in Ethiopia for several years.
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2023 Tutu Fellow Melvyn Lubega has been appointed by the South African Presidency to lead the country’s Digital Services Unit (DSU). This new capability within the presidency is to implement South Africa's National Digital Transformation Roadmap. Approved by the Cabinet earlier this year, the Presidency announced South Africa's National Digital Transformation Roadmap on 12 May 2025.
In the Presidency's statement, it said that the South African tech entrepreneur is a globally-recognised technology pioneer, who co-founded Go1 - a platform used by businesses, non-profit organisations, and governments in more than 60 countries. Melvyn "has advised governments in Africa, Asia, and Europe on digital transformation programmes".
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- Written by: Jolomi Akperi
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During the June 2025 Mo Ibrahim Governance Weekend in Marrakech, the African Leadership Institute hosted a highly-engaging side-meeting titled Africa Jobs Scenarios: Reimagining Work for Africa’s Next Generation. This was part of AFLI's broader Engagement and Convening Series, and marked a key moment in ongoing efforts to address one of Africa’s most pressing challenges: creating dignified and fulfilling jobs for its growing youth population.
The session was built around the Africa Jobs Scenarios report, an exercise undertaken by the 2024 Tutu Fellows in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation with the aim to explore how the continent could create more than 30 million dignified and fulfilling jobs by 2040.
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Africa stands at a pivotal moment. With a burgeoning youth population and abundant resources, the continent possesses the potential to become a global economic powerhouse. Yet, this promise hinges on the continent’s ability to create meaningful opportunities for millions of Africans seeking dignified and fulfilling work. Dignified and fulfilling work is defined as productive employment that provides individuals with reliable income, a sense of purpose, and respect in the workplace. This report, Africa Jobs Scenarios, is a critical exploration of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in this crucial endeavor. (The report is available for download below.)
The Tutu Fellows Class of 2024 was tasked - through a partnership between the African Leadership Institute and the Mastercard Foundation - to deploy strategic foresight, as a planning tool, to chart plausible pathways for Africa’s job market by 2040. Scenarios in strategic foresight are structured narratives that explore multiple plausible futures to help organizations or countries manage uncertainty as well as to make informed decisions today.
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- Written by: Niven Postma
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The first workshop of the 2025 Archbishop Tutu Leadership Fellowship was held at Mont Fleur in Stellenbosch from the 3rd to the 11th of May 2025. The 24 Fellowship candidates were drawn from Algeria, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Guinea, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Ghana and the DRC, and were chosen from over 900 nominations, all of which were intensely scrutinised and evaluated by a series of panels comprising AFLI colleagues and previous Tutu Fellows.
It was, as always, a very intense week of personal and professional learning, connection, and introspection.
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- Written by: Linda Kasonde
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Zambia transitioned from a one-party state to a multi-party democracy in 1991. This transition entailed a change in Zambia’s constitution to reflect the ideals of a plural democracy in which rights and freedoms were entrenched and in which an attempt to the remove the cult of the all-powerful political leader was made.
Zambia now stands on the cusp of yet another constitutional review process, the sixth of its kind since the country gained independence in 1964. The Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 7 of 2025 - like its predecessor, the Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 10 of 2019 - threatens to take the country down the dark path of constitutionally entrenched dictatorship. Constitutionalism seeks to limit government power by the constitution. I would argue that the reason why constitutionalism has largely failed in the country is due not only to failed constitution-making processes, but also due to a lack of temerity by the judiciary. This has forced the people of Zambia to save themselves time and time again.
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Statement by the Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellows on the Arrest and Detention of Boniface Mwangi and Agather Atuhaire and dated 22nd May 2025
The Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellows (“Tutu Fellows”) represent civic, political, and business leaders from all across the African continent concerned with the governance and development of the African Continent. We strongly condemn the recent arrest and detention of Kenyan Activist and 2020 Tutu Fellow Boniface Mwangi and his colleague Agather Atuhaire by the Tanzanian authorities for expressing solidarity with imprisoned Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who is facing charges of treason.
As a Pan-African institution, we further condemn statements by President Samia Suluhu that Boniface Mwangi and Agather Atuhaire had no right to offer solidarity to a Tanzanian colleague.
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- Written by: Peter Wilson
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The African Leadership Institute is pleased to announce the Associates who have been selected for the 2025 cohort of the Tutu Fellowship programme. It is a pleasure to be welcoming this group of exceptional African leaders, who emerged from the more than 900 nominations received.
This year’s cohort includes associates from ten countries spanning the continent, from Algeria to South Africa. Their current endeavours span the domains of private business, public governance and civil society, and their areas of influence range from finance and technology to human rights and agriculture.
This rich diversity of nationalities, professions and perspectives is a defining feature of the programme’s learning experience. These associates demonstrate the incredible wealth and breadth of Africa’s leadership talent and the programme is committed to strengthening their capacity as catalysts for positive, transformative impact across the continent.
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The African Leadership Institute is seeking a dynamic, visionary and entrepreneurial leader to take this successful Institute to the next level of growth and impact upon leadership in Africa.
This is a demanding job, but incredibly rewarding. The CEO leads our commitment to build a critical mass of visionary, strategic, self-aware and ethical leaders across the continent who together become the catalysts for change and transformation of Africa. You would have a unique opportunity to really make a difference in Africa through mobilising the immense leadership potential of the continent’s emerging leaders, with support for innovative thinking on new initiatives to achieve our ambitious goals
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- Written by: Jolomi Akperi
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Professor Landry Signé PhD, a 2015 Tutu Fellow, has recently published a pivotal article titled Turning Policy into Action in Africa through the Brookings Institution. In this comprehensive analysis, Landry takes a deep dive into the prevalent challenges hindering effective policy implementation across the African continent and proposes actionable strategies to bridge these implementation gaps.
He identifies several core causes of policy failures in Africa, including ambiguity in interventions, inadequate resources, and complex political dynamics.
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2017 Tutu Fellow Mimi Kalinda has been appointed as a board member of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), a specialized agency of the African Union focused on strengthening institutional and human capacity across the continent.
With more than 27 years of experience in reputation management, brand positioning, and business growth, Kalinda brings expertise in communications strategy and leadership development to the ACBF board. She is the Co-Founder and Group CEO of Africa Communications Media Group (ACG), where she has led pan-African and global communications efforts for organizations such as MTN Group, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Mastercard Foundation, the African Development Bank, and the Bezos Earth Fund.
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2015 Tutu Fellow Ronald Osumba has co-authored a report for the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, analyzing Africa’s engagement with the Trump administration and the broader shifts in US-Africa relations.
Titled Africa First: A New Vision for Africa’s Growth and U.S. Engagement, the 38-page report examines the impact of Trump's “America First” foreign policy on trade, aid, and geopolitics, while outlining strategies for Africa to strengthen its global position. The analysis, co-authored with Mark Scott, an advisor at the institute, highlights challenges faced by African nations, including uncertainties around US trade policies, the withdrawal from international agreements, and funding risks for key development sectors such as health and climate.
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2019 Tutu Fellow Sangu Delle JD has been elected as Chairperson of Ashesi University’s Board of Directors. He succeeds Dr. Yaw Asare-Aboagye, who served as Chairperson from 2020 to 2024. Sangu has been a member of the board since 2018.
“I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to the outgoing Chair, Yaw Asare-Aboagye, for his exceptional service and leadership,” Sangu shared. “His dedication has left a lasting impact, and I hope to build on the strong foundation he has laid. I’m excited about the opportunities ahead and look forward to collaborating with Patrick Awuah and the entire Ashesi community as we strive for excellence and innovation in education.”
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2010 Tutu Fellow Lerato Mataboge has been elected the African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy. The AU Commission elections were held during the ongoing AU summit in February 2025 where leaders from member states convened to discuss pressing issues facing the continent. The commission plays a crucial role in implementing policies that promote economic growth, stability and integration among African nations. AU Commissioners serve for four years.
Lerato has an extensive background in infrastructure and trade. She founded and led Trade Invest Africa, an initiative aimed at strengthening partnerships between governments and the private sector to promote intra-African trade and investment in infrastructure and energy.
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- Modupeola Fadugba Wins 2025 Norval Sovereign African Art Prize
- Tributes for Paul Kapelus, 2008 Tutu Fellow
- President Kgame appoints Jean-Guy Afrika CEO of Rwanda Development Board
- Fellow's community project provides free lunches for rural school children
- Diary of a tech CEO on CNN's Inside Africa
- Risper Alaro named as one of the top 20 Most Powerful Women in Finance in East Africa 2024
- 2007 Fellow Niven Postma to lead the Tutu Fellowship Programme in 2025
- Wiebe Boer PhD appointed as Chief Growth Officer at JIPA Network in the Caribbean
- Changing of the guard at AFLI
- Jumoke Oduwole JSD appointed as Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment
