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2008 Tutu Fellow Eunice Ajambo provided a briefing overview on the main points for Namibia and Southern Africa from the United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) mid-2020 Report. The UN report covers the impact of the global pandemic and subsequent global economic contraction.  Eunice is the Economist and Development Coordination officer for the United Nation in Namibia.

The UN is projecting an economic contraction of 3.2 per cent this year and says it is likely to be the worst recession since the Great Depression due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the scale and global nature of the economic impact, it presents unique challenges given how much the global economy has changed since the 1930s.

2014 Tutu Fellow Sello Hatang mobilised the Nelson Mandela Foundation when it became apparent that South Africa would be facing a massive humanitarian crisis. Along with The Kolisi Foundation and the Imbumba Foundation, by the end of April his foundation had set up Each One Feed One with a start-up contribution of R500 000 from its own funds as an emergency relief vehicle, focusing on food security. It shortly thereafter began delivering food to starving people around the country. 

Sello was also joined by 2013 Tutu Fellow Catherine Constantinides, who is an ambassador to the Each One Feed One programme.

Unlocking Africa's Business Potential by 2015 Tutu Fellow Landry Signé has recently been released and has had good feedback and editorial reviews. Landry makes the case that Africa welcomes business investment and offers some of the world's highest returns and impacts.  The book examines business opportunities in the eight sectors with the highest potential returns on private investment in Africa.  These sectors include: consumer markets, agriculture and agri-processing, information and communication technology, manufacturing, oil and gas, tourism, banking, and infrastructure and construction.

He says Africa is one of the world's fastest growing regions and by 2030 will be home to nearly $1.7 billion people and an estimated $6.7 trillion in consumer and business spending.  Landry is a prolific writer and thinker, having authored or co-authored more than 27 manuscripts, books, articles and book chapters, with several books dealing with Africa's economy. 

Tomiwa Aladekomo, a 2013 Tutu Fellow, who has wide-ranging experience in media, marketing and publishing as well as being the former Art Manager at Atlantic Records in New York, where he received art management credits on nine albums. Channelling this incredible experience into combating the COVID-19 pandemic on the continent, he has built a colourful, user-friendly and data-rich website with live updates and critical information about the COVID-19 pandemic.

The website sources local and international data to display up-to-date statistics, colourful and interactive graphics, and updates on the number of cases, recoveries and deaths across the continent and globally.

2015 Tutu Fellow Wiebe Boer’s investment fund is backing solar power companies providing renewable energy to critical emergency response centres across Nigeria during the Covid-19 crisis. Wiebe’s company, All On, realised quickly that COVID-19 was placing intense demands on Nigeria’s healthcare system due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So All On created an emergency relief fund to provide healthcare organisations with reliable local solar power.  It is allowing frontline healthcare workers to have essential services they need to combat the virus and care for patients.

The relief fund provides $500,000 to selected renewable energy companies for rapid installation of solar installations to critical emergency relief centres across Nigeria.

Two Tutu Fellows - Omoni Oboli and Jude Abaga - are collaborating on a movie called Namaste Wahala. Jude, a 2017 Tutu Fellow is a producer on the movie, while Omoni, a 2018 Fellow, is an insider of the Nigerian movie scene.

Namaste Wahala is at the intersection of bollywood and nollywood, featuring a cast drawn from both the Indian subcontinent and Africa. ' It is directed by businesswoman-turned-filmmaker, Hamisha Daryani Ahuja

2014 Tutu Fellow Ada Osakwe was interviewed by Richard Quest on CNN regarding the impact of COVID-19 on businesses in Nigeria and how she has helped her employees. Ada is the Chief Executive of Agrolay Ventures, an investment firm dedicated to growing the agricultural and food sector in Africa and the owner of Nuli, which has multiple stores selling health-conscious foods. With the coronavirus ravaging economies across the globe, the media is looking at how small businesses are coping with the pandemic. 

Richard Quest, is a journalist and the CNN Business Editor at Large, and interviewed her on his programme Quest Means Business.

The African Leadership Institute is pleased to announce that once again, a set of really exceptional emerging African leaders has been selected for the prestigious Tutu Leadership Fellowship for 2020. We received more than 300 nominees of outstanding quality from 36 African countries, from which 21 of Africa’s highest-potential young leaders were selected to take part in the programme. Including the candidates nominated by our sponsoring organisations, the candidates represent 11 different African countries, ranging from 30 to 39 years of age, and span several industries. The selected candidates demonstrate the incredible wealth and breadth of leadership talent that exists in Africa’s youth, which bodes well for Africa’s future.

2010 Tutu Fellow Bright Simons insightfully unpacks the pervasiveness of conspiracy theories during the pandemic and the danger they present.  Bright is a Ghanaian policy activist and social entrepreneur. In his piece in The Africa Report, he kicks off his piece by saying "Because all of us are so damned scared and anxious, conspiracy theories, alternative facts, folk science, and fringe beliefs that would ordinarily not get more than a tiny fraction of our saturated attention, now flood news bulletins and timelines."

He writes that while Africa is not any more susceptible to fringe beliefs than elsewhere, during a time of crisis it can seem as if they are on the verge of overwhelming mainstream and traditional media.

2013 Tutu Fellow Monica Musonda has mobilised her company, Java Foods, to donate food to those in need as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Monica is a lawyer-turned-entrepreneur and the CEO and Founder of Java Foods, one of the leading food manufacturers in Zambia. Java Foods is a food processing company established to provide affordable nutrition using locally acquired raw materials to the Southern African market. 

In response to the perilous impact on the vulnerable as a result of the economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Java Foods has been helping out. Monica explained that at the beginning of the year, no one understood the impact COVID19 would have on our lives, our businesses and our economies.

2015 Tutu Fellow Mosunmola Cynthia Umoru has drawn on her contacts and network to minimise the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the most vulnerable in her community. She is the Founder and Chief Realization Officer, of Honeysuckles PTL Ventures, which engages in farming, food production, processing and distribution of a wide range of products.

In one week, she and her network jointly raised a total of N6,866,800 in cash, and food valued at N750,000 (about $20,000USD).

The Africa Unusual Working Group is a cohort of professionals working across the African continent who have come together to generate and lobby for practical solutions that can help combat COVID-19 within Africa. A great number of its members are Tutu Fellows, truly attesting to the wealth of not only the programme itself, but also the power and potential of the Fellowship that it continues to create. In an Op Ed to CNBC Africa, the group pointed out that even as countries had shut borders and begun isolating, more than ever there was the need for cross-sectoral collaborations and for governments, the private sector, NGOs, multilateral institutions, and individuals to collaborate.

2019 Tutu Fellow Akim Daouda has been appointed as CEO of Gabon's Sovereign Investment Fund.  He takes over from Serge Mickoto as the leader of the Fonds Gabonais d’Investissements Stratégiques (FGIS). Akim was the fund's Chief Investment Officer and had been managing the fund's entire portfolio before stepping up as head of the organisation.  Serge Mickoto had headed the FGIS since its founding in 2012; Akim joined the fund in 2013 and was promoted three years later to Chief Investment Officer. 

The change in leadership came just days after FGIS' official acquisition of BNP Paribas’ assets in Banque Internationale pour le Commerce et l’Industrie du Gabon.

Dr Tariro Makadzange, a 2007 Tutu Fellow, has participated in the development of Zimbabwe's Guidelines for the Management of COVID-19. She worked with the Physicians Association (NAPAZ) and the Essential Medicines List (EDLIZ), submitting inputs. The document is published by the National Medicine and Therapeutics Policy Advisory Committee of the Zimbabe Ministry of Health.  The document will serve as the national guide and standard for Zimbabwe for management of COVID-19 pandemic.

The foreword says the document reflects the consensus of local experts, and takes into consideration factors such as the Zimbabwean setting, prevailing economic climate, practical experience as well as evidence-based therapeutics.

2017 Tutu Fellow 'Bosun Tijani is using his technology company to combat the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic by offering support for tech and communication projects related to the virus. The Nigerian entrepreneur and co-founder and CEO of Co-Creation Hub is partnering with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to launch a call for innovative communication projects on COVID-19 based on indigenous African languages targeted at the semi-urban and rural population across Africa.

Co-Creation Hub is a technology innovation centre that catalyses solutions for pressing social problems in Africa through the application of social capital and technology.