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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AFLI Founders Peter Wilson and Sean Lance were honoured by the University of the Western Cape at the UWC's gala ceremony on 30 November 2022 at which gold medals and honorary doctorates were conferred. The UWC held a dedicated gala ceremony to recognise individuals who have acted with excellence and distinction to improve the lives of others.
Sean and Peter received gold medals for the work they have done in establishing the African Leadership Institute and investing in young leaders of Africa through the Tutu Leadership Fellowship.

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2022 Tutu Fellow Bilha Ndirangu was interviewed by the Norwegian-African Business Association (NABA) on their COP27 podcast series ahead of COP27 that ran from 6-18 November 2022 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. COP27 is short for the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
In the interview, Bilha takes a look at how Africa can make the most of COP27, and consider whether this is indeed 'Africa's COP', or just COP in Africa. The podcast host for the series is journalist and 2014 Tutu Fellow, Lanre Akinola.
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2013 Tutu Fellow Dr Francois Bonnici has co-authored with Cynthia Rayner a book titled The Systems Work of Social Change: How to Harness Connection, Context, and Power to Cultivate Deep and Enduring Change.
The book has been well received by critics, giving glowing reviews, and was recognized by the Terry McAdam Book Award - Changing the way we think - at the Alliance for Nonprofit Management conference in November 2022. It was selected from among 200 books on social change published in 2021.
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2016 Tutu Fellow Peter Biar Ajak has become a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University's Kennedy School. He started his Fellowship in August 2022.
In his new role, Peter is working on a book manuscript about the ways South Sudanese can realize their political aspirations. Peter was wrongfully detained without trial by the South Sudan National Security Service.
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2017 Tutu Fellow Ahmed Zahran has been chosen for Fortune Magazine's Change the World List 2022. The list includes the 50 most impactful companies globally that demonstrated the creative tools of capitalism making them uniquely suited to addressing society’s biggest challenges.
Each year, Fortune publishes the Change the World List to celebrate companies and leaders that embrace corporate purpose and recognize how it can add value to business and society.
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A book by 2010 Tutu Fellow Robtel Neajai Pailey PhD was awarded this year's Best Book by the African Politics Conference Group (APCG). The award was formally presented in November at the annual meeting of the African Studies Association (USA), of which APCG is an affiliate organisation. The title of Robtel’s monograph is Development, (Dual) Citizenship and Its Discontents in Africa: The Political Economy of Belonging to Liberia published by Cambridge University Press.
Each year, the African Politics Conference Group confers five awards to recognize exceptional scholarship in the study of African Politics. The other four awards are: Distinguished Africanist Award, Best Article, Best Graduate Student and Best Dissertation.
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2019 Tutu Fellow Samson Itodo hosted a conference and meetings on strategy in Washington DC on Nigeria's 2023 general election. These meetings are part of the efforts made to enhance the international profile of the election and to mobilize international support for successful polls next year.
Samson shared on his LinkedIn page that the delegation returned to Nigeria, inspired, determined, and more empowered to deliver credible polls next year. He pointed out that Nigeria’s 2023 election is Africa’s biggest event, therefore Nigeria cannot afford to fail and every vote has to count.
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2019 Tutu Fellow Akim Daouda has submitted the Technical report on the technical analysis of the technical annex to the first biennial update report of Gabon submitted in accordance with decision 14/CP.19, paragraph 7, on 29 December 2021.
If that makes your eyes water - the document outlines the pathway by which the UN validated the 90 million REDD+ climate credits from the data Gabon submitted for review. The key outcome is it marks Gabon's entrance into the carbon credit market.
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2018 Tutu Fellow Aminu Umar-Sadiq is now the new MD and CEO of NSIA, the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority.
In 2019 he was appointed as Executive Director and Member of the Board of NSIA by President Muhammadu Buhari and prior to that he was Senior Vice-President and Deputy Head of Infrastructure for the Investment Authority. His new appointment as head of the organisation was made in October 2022.
NSIA empowers the receiving, managing and investing of funds in a diversified portfolio on behalf of the Federal Government, State Governments, Federal Capital Territory, and Local Governments Area Councils in preparation for the eventual depletion of Nigeria’s hydrocarbon resources.
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2009 Tutu Fellow James Mwangi is one of the recipients of the 2022 Climate Breakthrough Award, the largest climate action award for individuals. James shares this year’s award is with Isabel Cavelier Adarve, a former Colombian climate diplomat; and a trio of ground-breaking campaigners in India: Brikesh Singh, Sanjiv Gopal and Vinuta Gopal. The award provides a $3 million multi-year flexible grant to 'extraordinary changemakers to pursue ambitious climate-change mitigation ideas that have the potential to transform entire industries or countries and materially change the lives of millions of people.
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Three Fellows have been selected for the MIPAD Global Top 100 2022 list. MIPAD is short for Most Influential People of African Descent. The three Fellows honored by this selection are 2018 Fellow Hassanatu Mansaray Phd; 2019 Fellow Marcia Ashong; and, 2020 Fellow Olamide 'Kola' Aina.
The list, which is published every year and dates back to 2017, honors influential Africans under the age of 40. The lists began being developed following the UN's General Assembly Resolution in support of the International Decade for People of African Descent and are usually published to coincide with the opening of the UN General Assembly in New York in September and October.
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2014 Tutu Fellow Aua Balde has been elected Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. She was appointed to the Group in November 2020 by the UN Human Rights Council.
Enforced disappearance has become a global problem and is not restricted to a specific region of the world. A disappearance has a doubly paralysing impact: on the victims, frequently tortured and in constant fear for their lives, and on their families, ignorant of the fate of their loved ones, their emotions alternating between hope and despair, wondering and waiting, sometimes for years, for news that may never come.
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Seven Tutu Fellows have been selected for the prestigious 2022 Choiseul 100 Africa Economic Leaders of Tomorrow list and a further 11 the Top 200 list. The Choiseul 100 Africa is an annual study independently carried out by the Institut Choiseul.
It identifies and ranks the young African leaders of 40 years old and younger, who will play a major role in the continent’s economic development in the near future. It includes business leaders, successful entrepreneurs, investors, and more who embody the dynamism and renewal of the continent.
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- Written by: Jackie Chimhanzi PhD
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The African Leadership Institute received more than 300 nominations for a slot in the Class of 2023 Tutu Fellowship Programme. As of writing this, the application phase just closed and nominees have completed submitting their applications for the leadership programme. A rigorous selection process is now underway.
Africa is blessed with outstanding young leaders, and the Tutu Fellowship Programme is attracting the best of the best of Africa's emerging leaders.
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2013 Tutu Fellow Danladi Verheijen has been appointed to the Advisory Board of the Atlantic Council’s new Freedom and Prosperity Center. The Atlantic Council is an international affairs think tank that favours a close relationship between North America and Europe on political, economic and defense issues. It manages sixteen regional centers and functional programs related to international security and global economic prosperity.
The news of the appointment was shared by Danladi on his Linkedin page.
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- Fellows renewable investment snapped up by Shell
- Sello Hatang rings the bell at NYSE - 20 years after Madela
- Bilha Ndirangu named to inaugural Yale Climate Leaders Program
- The Class of 2022 graduates in London
- Isaac Fokuo, Ndidi Nwuneli appointed to US EXIM Bank
- Tutu Talks: Sacred leadership with a revolutionary consciousness
- Dr Kopano Matlwa Mabaso joins the Gates Foundation's Africa team
- Tutu Talks: Promises and Pitfalls of Policy-making
- The Class of 2020 finally graduates - in 2022
- Tutu Talks: From child of war to man of peace