Latest News

2017 Archbishop Tutu Fellow and Nigerian hip hop artist and CEO of the record label, Chocolate City, Jude Abaga - also known as “M.I” - has just released a new album, which is a follow-up to his 2014 studio album, The Chairman.

His new album is titled, A Study on Self Worth: Yxng Dxnzl. The new album highlights important themes of introspection and self-worth and borrows heavily from his journey on the Archbishop Tutu Programme. The album reflects M.I.’s growth as a leader and as an artist.

This essay was submitted by Chude Jideonwo as part of the required work associates must complete during the Tutu Leadership Programme.  AFLI typically posts a selection of the top essays in each year, and this is one of them.

Defining success in leadership within the African continent – or even outside of the continent – is no easy task, considering what it may entail to approach consensus. It would be different – and easier – if we tried defining effective leadership.

For instance, the question: who is the poster figure for successful leadership? And by what measures are these successes defined? Economic growth; increase in purchasing power; obeisance to the rule of law;  freedom – in all its true expression; improved human security; happiness and improvement in the quality of life of the average citizen?

With the 2018 Tutu Fellowship programme having come to a close, the small group of 26 young leaders who made this year's journey of discovery, self-reflection, and growth are sharing the impact it has had on their lives.  The Tutu Leadership Programme seeks to provide the candidates selected for the programme with tools for life-long reflection and decision making as servant-leaders in their various walks of life across the continent. 

The words of some of the members of the Class of 2018 illustrates how they experienced the Tutu Leadership Programme.

2017 Archbishop Tutu Fellow Stacey Brewer made the cover of Forbes Africa magazine’s August 2018 issue, alongside businesswoman Phuti Mahanyele, as one of the “two faces that mean business”. The two South African businesswomen are corporate celebrities and the magazine features and applaudes them for disrupting the business and education industries.

Brewer's vision was to build a network of schools that offers affordable quality education. In the venture, called SPARK Schools, she and her co-founder mix traditional classroom learning with computer-aided learning in a model known as "blend learning"

Archbishop Tutu Fellowship Certificates were awarded to the 2018 Tutu Fellows at an exuberant celebratory event kindly hosted by Lord Hacking at his home in London at the end of an intensive but very rewarding 10-day workshop at Oxford University and in London. Old favourites continued to be amongst the highlights of the week – conducting choristers in Exeter College chapel, Eddie Obeng’s aliens, good kings/queens, warriors and medicine women in Mythodrama’s Henry V, cooking lunch with Caryn and Ros, dining in the House of Lords after a personal conducted tour of the Houses of Parliament, and Andrew Feinstein’s amazing stories of corruption in the global arms trade.

2017 Tutu Fellow Natalie Jabangwe has been recognized as one of the Southern Africa finalists for the Young Business Leader of the Year Award in this years 8th annual All Africa Business Leaders Awards, or AABLA. AABLA, in partnership with CNBC Africa, honour remarkable leadership and salute business game changers in Africa for their commitment to excellence as well as developing best practices and innovative strategies.

AABLA says ‘Winners of the Awards exemplify the best in African Leadership. They epitomize the core values of a successful leader, strength, innovation, ingenuity, knowledge and foresight – values that are imperative to carving out powerful business in a Pan-African and global economy’

The Archbishop Tutu Fellows are a strong network of exceptional young African leaders from 42 countries, with a shared commitment to help transform Africa, our continent. The Tutu Fellows are deeply concerned about the arbitrary arrest and detention of youth activist Dr Peter Biar Ajak and re-iterate their call for his immediate release.  Peter Biar Ajak, a 2016 Tutu Fellow, is an academic and peace and human rights activist. He is the coordinator of South Sudan Young Leaders Forum, Senior Adviser for the International Growth Centre and Founder of the Juba-based Centre for Strategic Analyses and Research. He was also instrumental to the development of South Sudan Vision 2040.

Several Tutu Fellows were involved in the CNBC Africa Celebrates Leading Women in Business series. The series interviewed leading women in business as part of International Women's Month, looking at how Africa’s leading women are redefining business and entrepreneurship across the continent, and more specifically in South Africa. The Fellows involved in the series included Stacey Brewer, Lynette Ntuli, Mandisa Maholwane, and Dr Theo Mothoa-Frendo. Subject matter discussed during the month-long series was wide-ranging.

2006 Tutu Fellow Aidan Eyakuze is warning Tanzanianians that the loss of open discourse in the country could lead to a breakdown of the country's ability to be fully democratic. Eyakuze, who heads the East African civic organisation Twaweza, begins his piece by ticking off positive campaign promises President John Magafuli kept on rolling back corruption in the country. He goes on to say in his piece in Civicus that the acclaim President Magafuli obtained early in his term when his approval rating soared to 96% obscures other decisions that are troubling.

Three months into his President Magafuli's rule, live radio and TV broadcasts were stopped. Magafuli's government has also banned political rallies and meetings.

The African Leadership Institute report, An Abundance of Young African Leaders but no Seat at the Table, will be launched at Strathmore University, Nairobi on August 28, 2018.  It is the result of funding from the Ford Foundation with AFLI as the grantee and Strathmore University as its partner.

For Africa to realise her full potential, leadership initiatives that focus on the targeted development and the continuous nurturing of young people’s leadership capacities are crucial. Whilst a plethora of leadership development offerings exist on the continent, there has not been, to date, a holistic view of what these initiatives are. This study, therefore, represents an important step towards filling gaps in extant knowledge.

2016 Tutu Fellow Peter Biar Ajak has been arrested in South Sudan by the South Sudan National Security Service. He has been held since 28 July 2018 without any charges being made public by the South Sudanese government. He is a Harvard and Cambridge graduate who has worked for peace in South Sudan and built bridges using a common passion in the country, wrestling. He recently formed the Center for Strategic Analyses and Research in Juba, South Sudan, a policy think tank that has at times been critical of the government. Peter has called for a grass roots movement to hold the government accountable on peace and has met with a broad range of groups to promote conversations amongst rivals as a means of establishing trust and a pathway to peace.

Nelson Mandela’s birthday on 18 July represents an opportunity for people everywhere to celebrate his birthday by acting on the idea that each person has the power to change the world. This year would have marked the 100th birthday of the struggle icon, and the Tutu Fellows joined the world to take part in the many important social activities commemorating this day; both as a collective and in their own capacities, within their communities.

The Fellows and AFLI joined forces with the Nelson Mandela Foundation - of which the CEO is 2014 Tutu Fellow, Sello Hatang - to take part in a building project championed by Habitat for Humanity in Orange Farm, a small community just south of Johannesburg. 

2014 Tutu Fellow and Founder of the KISUA fashion brand, Samuel Mensah, this year embarked in two major collaborations to celebrate and honour the centenary legacies of Nelson Mandela and Albertina Sisulu.

Kisua, together with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, launched the 466/64 clothing line, which derives its name from Madiba’s prison number to commemorate what would have been Mandela’s 100th birthday. Sam’s collaborative project began four years ago when he met Sello Hatang, the current CEO of the foundation, when they were both part of the Class of 2014 Tutu Fellowship Programme in 2014.

Later this month, Moroccan King Mohamed VI will travel to Nouakchott, Mauritania to participate in the 31st African Union Summit. It will be only the third summit that Morocco has attended since its re-admission to the African Union in early 2017.

Morocco withdrew itself from the African Union (the Organisation of African Unity; OAU) in 1984 to protest against the admission of Western Sahara as a full member of the organization. Morocco's relationship with Western Sahara is a complicated one. In 1975, Morocco invaded the territory following the withdrawal of the Spanish colonial administration.

A strong group of Tutu Fellows have worked tirelessly and volunteered their time in the production of the forthcoming  Africa Innovation Summit which will take place from June 6-8, 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda. The patrons of the event are President Paul Kagame and the former President of Cabo Verde, Pedro Pires.  The 2018 Summit will be a multifaceted event that will bring together stakeholders from various sectors, including decision-makers to seek innovative and disruptive solutions for the challenges facing African countries.