Author: Publisher

{{Johannesburg}} – {The MTN Group conveys its heartfelt condolences to the Mandela family, and the people of South Africa and the world on the passing away of former President Nelson Mandela yesterday. }

“Former President Mandela leaves behind a rich legacy of reconciliation, world peace and the triumph of the human spirit over all adversity. He embodied the spirit of human rights and dignity in the way he lived his own life,” says Sifiso Dabengwa, MTN Group President and CEO.

“His 50-year fight, including 27 years in jail, helped bring democracy and freedom to our country. Even after 27 years of prison and hardship, only one thing counted for Madiba, as Mandela was affectionately called by his clan name: creating a democratic, prosperous future for all the people of the new South Africa. This combination of humanity and unique statesmanship made his true greatness manifest for the entire world,” says Dabengwa.

Dabengwa said the dawn of South Africa’s democracy in 1994 coincided with the founding of MTN and today, MTN operates in 22 markets across Africa and the Middle East, with more than 200 million customers and still growing.

The MTN Group President and CEO said the founding democratic leader achieved so much, touched so many people and showed much leadership and courage.

“He never lost his compassion, humility and common humanity. He’s an inspiration to us all. He taught us to love ourselves, to love one another and to love our country. So, as we celebrate his selfless efforts on behalf of human dignity, it also represents an enduring challenge for us all,” adds Dabengwa.

{Forbes Magazine released its annual “20 Young Power African Women” list which illuminates the brightest stars and Africa’s most outstanding female game changers. Forbes enlisted a group of young, professional African women to help identify the most innovative, courageous, daring and successful young women aged 45 and under. It is a subjective list, no doubt, but it’s the closest you will get to a definitive list.}

{{Claire Akamanzi}}, Chief Operating Officer at Rwanda Development Board appeared on the list. Akamanzi, 34, is the Chief Operating Officer of the Rwandan Development Board (RDB), a government institution tasked with accelerating economic growth and development in Rwanda by enabling private sector growth.

She has had a successful career in public service, serving as Rwanda’s commercial diplomat in London and as a trade negotiator in Geneva for the Rwandan government at the World Trade Organization. She was also previously the Deputy Director-General of the Rwanda Investment and Export Promotion Agency (RIEPA).

Other women include {{Isabel Dos Santos}}, the daughter of Angola’s President, Jose Eduardo Dos Santos. She is Africa’s richest woman. She is also one of the continent’s most powerful businesswomen. Through her various holding companies, she controls a 25% stake in Angolan mobile telecom operator Unitel, a 25% stake in Angola’s Banco BIC, 25% of ZON Optimus, a listed Portuguese cable TV company, and just under 20% of Banco BPI, one of Portugal’s largest publicly traded banks. She is also partnering with Sonae, Portugal’s largest retailer, to launch 5 new food hypermarkets in Angola in 2014.

{{Mimi Alemayehou,}}{ Ethiopian. Executive Vice President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC)}

In 2010 U.S President Barack Obama nominated Ethiopia-born Mimi Alemayehou as the Executive Vice President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. government’s development finance institution. She helps manage OPIC’s $16 billion war chest, channeling American capital to fund investment opportunities in emerging markets. Prior to her OPIC appointment, Alemayehou served as the United States Executive Director at the African Development Bank.

{{Vera Songwe,}} {Cameroonian. Country Director, World Bank, Senegal}

Vera Songwe, a Cameroonian national, serves as the World Bank’s Country Director for Senegal, Cape Verde, Gambia, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau. She is also a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institute with the Global Economy and Development and Africa Growth Initiative.

{{Tara Fela-Durotoye}} Nigerian. Founder, House Of Tara

The Nigerian-born entrepreneur and lawyer is the founder of House Of Tara, Nigeria’s leading beauty and cosmetics company. House of Tara develops a wide range of African-themed beauty products and perfumes and also operates Nigeria’s foremost beauty academy. In 2013, Fela-Durotoye was nominated as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

{{Rapelang Rabana}}, South African. Entrepreneur

One of Africa’s most recognizable young entrepreneurs. Rabana, 29, is the CEO and founder of Cape Town-based Yeigo Communications, which develops software for telecoms-related services including Voice over IP, Instant messaging, SMS messaging and push email services. In 2008, Telfree, a Swiss mobile telecommunications firm, acquired a 51% stake in Yeigo. In December 2012 she founded Rekindle Learning, a company that provides adaptive mobile learning solutions.

{{Valentina da Luz Guebuza}}, Mozambiquan. Investor

The 33 year-old daughter of Mozambique’s President Armando Guebuza heads Focus 21 Management & Development, a large family-owned investment holding company with interests in banking, telecommunications, fisheries, transport, mining and property. Focus 21 owns significant stakes in Beira Grain Terminal and Chinese Pay TV Company StarTimes’ operations in Mozambique.

{{Hadeel Ibrahim}}, Sudanese. Mo Ibrahim Foundation

Hadeel Ibrahim is the daughter of Sudanese-born British mobile telecoms billionaire Mo Ibrahim. She is the founding Executive Director of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, which was established in 2006 to support leadership and good governance in Africa. She also serves on the Boards of the Mary Robinson Foundation for Climate Justice and the African Governance Institute (AGI).

{{Alengot Oromait}}, Ugandan. Member Of Parliament

Proscovia Oromait, 20, is the youngest parliamentarian in Africa. In 2012 she was elected Member of Parliament for Usuk County, Katakwi District in Uganda. Her father, Michael Oromait, served as the MP for the same Parliamentary seat before his death in July 2012. She is a member of Uganda’s ruling National Resistance Movement party.

{{Monica Musonda}}, Zambian. Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Java Foods

Musonda is the founder of Java Foods, a Zambia-based food processing company that manufactures the eeZee brand of Instant Noodles. Musonda previously worked with Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, as the director of legal and corporate affairs at Dangote Group, where she led a project to build a cement plant in Zambia. She currently serves on the Boards of Dangote Industries Zambia Limited and the Central Bank of Zambia. Musonda is also the Chairperson of Kwacha Pension Trust Fund, Zambia’s largest single employer pension fund. She is an Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellow and was named a 2013 Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

{{Lindiwe Mazibuko}}, South African. Politician & Parliamentary Leader for Democratic Alliance (DA)

Mazibuko, age 33, is a Parliamentary Leader for the Democratic Alliance (MP for North Durban) and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly in South Africa. As the country’s fourth youngest parliamentarian, Mazibuko is already being touted as a future leader of the Democratic Alliance. Mazibuko was named South Africa’s Most Influential Woman in 2012 and a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2013.

{{Minoush Abdel-Meguid}}, Egyptian. Private Equity Investor, Entrepreneur, Investment Banker

The Egyptian-born investment banker is the co-founder of Union Capital, an Egyptian investment firm primarily focused on small and medium-sized enterprises. Abdel-Meguid is also founding president of the Egyptian Young Bankers Association, an organization that mentors young banking professionals.

{{Ola Orekunrin}}, Nigerian. Medical Doctor & Founder, The Flying Doctors

Orekunrin, 25, is founder and Managing Director of Flying Doctors Nigeria Ltd., an air ambulance service based in Lagos, Nigeria. Orekunrin’s company is the first air ambulance service in West Africa to provide urgent helicopter, airplane ambulance and evacuation services for critically injured people. She is a 2013 New Voices Fellow at the Aspen Institute and was named a Young Global Leader in 2013 by the World Economic Forum.

{{Sibongile Sambo,}} South African. Chief Executive Officer and Founder of SRS Aviation

Sambo is the founder and Managing Director of SRS (Sibongile Rejoice Sambo) Aviation – the first black female owned aviation company in South Africa. SRS is an integrated provider of private aviation services offering South African and international clients VIP Charter, tourist charter and helicopter services. The company also provides maintenance, sales and fleet management services to private jet owners.

{{Lupita Nyong’o}}, Kenyan. Actress and Filmmaker

Nyong’o is a Kenyan actress and filmmaker who made her Hollywood debut in acclaimed film director Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave” as Patsey. Nyong’o was born in Mexico, raised in Kenya and educated in the U.S. She is a graduate of Yale University’s School of Drama. In 2009, the breakout actress was also the lead in MTV’s award-winning drama series, Shuga. Nyong’o’s cousin, Isis Nyong’o was named one of Forbes 20 Youngest Power Women in Africa in 2011. Another cousin, Tavia Nyong’o, is a professor at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

{{Amini Kajunju,}} Democratic Republic of Congo. President & CEO, Africa-America Institute

A native of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Amini Kajunju is the President & CEO of the Africa-America Institute, and the first African woman to serve at the helm of the oldest nonprofit organization of its kind in the United States. Kajunju joined the Africa-America Institute in October 2012 from the New York-based Workshop in Business Opportunities (WIBO) where she had served as Executive Director for 10 years. Under her leadership, Kajunju has bolstered the organization’s programming and served more entrepreneurs than any other institution of a similar size in New York City.

{{Folake Folarin-Coker}}, Nigerian. Fashion Designer

Coker is the founder of Tiffany Amber, one of Africa’s leading fashion labels. She is the first African-based designer to showcase for two consecutive seasons at New York Fashion Week. In 2009, she won Designer of the Year at African Fashion International in Johannesburg, South Africa followed by Fashion Brand of the Year in 2011 at the Arise Fashion Week in Lagos, Nigeria.

{{NoViolet Bulawayo}}, Zimbabwean. Author

Zimbabwean-born author NoViolet Bulawayo is the first Black African female and the first Zimbabwean to be shortlisted for the prestigious Man Booker prize for her debut novel “We Need New Names.” She is the author of the short story Hitting Budapest (2010), which won the 2011 Caine Prize for African Writing. NoViolet Bulawayo is currently a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University in California.

{{Wangechi Mutu}}, Kenyan. Artist and Sculptor

Considered one of the most important contemporary African artists of recent years, Mutu’s first major solo exhibition in the U.S., Wangechi Mutu: A Fantastic Journey, opened at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina in March 2013. Mutu’s work has achieved much global acclaim with exhibitions at museums and galleries worldwide including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Miami Art Museum, Tate Modern in London, the Studio Museum in Harlem in New York, Museum Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf, Germany the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris and. Her first solo exhibition at a major North American museum opened at the Art Gallery of Ontario in March 2010.

{{Angellah Kariuki}}, Tanzanian. Politician

Kariuki, 37, is a Special seat Member of Tanzania’s Parliament and the country’s Deputy Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs.

{Few were less comfortable with the prospect of sainthood than Nelson Mandela himself. “One issue that deeply worried me in prison,” he wrote in Conversations with Myself, a collection of his writings published in 2010 “was the false image that I unwittingly projected to the outside world: of being regarded as a saint. I never was one, even on the basis of an earthly definition of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.”}

A rush to secular canonization would squander Mandela’s memory to unquestioning adulation. If we are to learn from his extraordinary legacy—and, as leaders, to act on what we learn—we are surely obliged to reckon fully with its layers and nuance. Symbolism must not crowd out substance while we reflect on the depth and range of Mandela’s contributions, to South Africa and to the world.

Take as an example his legendary refusal to exact revenge on those who imprisoned and humiliated him during the Apartheid years, culminating in the appointment of former white supremacist F.W. de Klerk as his deputy president. It is true that this was an act of admirable personal magnanimity, and a great testament to Mandela’s character. But, as a straightforward matter of politics, it was also both pragmatic and necessary. No other path could have ensured South Africa’s viability as an incipient democracy under ANC rule, not to mention protect its short- and long-term economic prospects.

In 1994, as the world cheered Mandela’s ascension to the South African Presidency, Rwanda emerged from a genocide that claimed more than a million lives. For 19 years, Rwandans have repulsed the urge to vengeance and instead placed reconciliation at the heart of our journey towards national recovery and progress. As with South Africa under Mandela, we concluded that the only path to healing and peace is to unequivocally reject—and never to replicate—the hatred, injustice and violence that inflicted our wounds to begin with. Given the unjustified basket-case reputation that our continent attracts in some quarters, it is notable that Africa has produced two stories of national reconciliation and renewal.

It is impossible to exaggerate the stakes for South Africa in the mid-’90s as the ANC took office. The Mandela government faced countless obstacles in 1994, including the real and imminent risk of economic collapse brought about by capital flight. This would have been daunting enough for an experienced government, let alone one made up of newcomers who had, until recently, been shut out of the political process by the white minority.

There was enormous pressure on the government to meet the long-repressed demands of an exhilarated but impatient population. Meanwhile, investors and the world community looked on for signs that the majority black rule would inevitably engender instability and dysfunction.

It is to South Africa’s enduring benefit that President Mandela was able to lead his country—and his party—through this period of turmoil. By applying his formidable skills as a communicator, politician and diplomat, he instilled confidence in his government and, by extension, in South Africa as a whole. Inevitably, the sky-high hopes and expectations of the population sometimes collided with the reality of managing a large, diverse and complex national economy. The difficult task of setting priorities and making tough decisions meant that compromises were made and promises broken. The euphoria that accompanied the end of apartheid inevitably faded. But, for the duration of his stewardship, Mandela’s rock-steady hand kept the ship afloat and eventually guided it on to calmer seas.

There is no doubting Mandela’s virtues as a moral exemplar and inspirational figure. There is no modern leader who has done more to deserve the waves of praise and mourning that his passing has unleashed.

But Mandela’s life’s work was, ultimately, politics. He worked for decades to advance his cherished political party, from exile to government. He defied his political enemies for 27 years, but did not hesitate to sit down with them when the time came to negotiate. He understood the power of his celebrity which he used to great and lasting effect. He never stopped striving towards concrete political ends; never missed a chance to plead his case or cause; never wavered from the struggle.

To point out that Nelson Mandela was, above all, a politician is not to diminish his remarkable legacy, but rather to remind the world that politicians are capable of remarkable things.

{{World Time}}

{On Thursday, December 5, 2013, the U.S. Government’s Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) Washington Fellowship Program launched its on-line application http://youngafricanleaders.state.gov/). This YALI Fellowship is part of the United States’ growing commitment to Rwanda and the whole of Africa. }

The Washington Fellowship seeks to enhance the continent’s prosperity by investing in the next generation of African leaders. The initiative provides a way for the United States to devote significant resources to enhancing leadership skills, spurring entrepreneurship, and connecting young African leaders with one another and with American peers and mentors. Completed applications, including all supporting documents, are due by 5:00 pm Eastern Standard Time, January 27, 2014.

All applications must be submitted via the online application system.

The Fellowship will begin in summer 2014 and will bring together 500 young leaders between the ages of 25 and 35 from across Africa to participate in six weeks of leadership training and mentoring. The fellowship will also provide unique opportunities for participants to build relationships with one another and use the skills gained to drive progress and economic prosperity in their home countries.

The U.S. Embassy in Kigali hosted a leadership forum on November 13 in concert with the recruitment drive for the YALI Fellowship for approximately 30 young Rwandans who are both alumni of U.S. government exchange programs (such as the International Visitors Leadership Program) and emerging young leaders in the areas public administration, business and civil society.

U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) Jessica Lapenn facilitated the discussion. Participants shared their views on what good leadership is and how leadership is demonstrated in their own areas of work in public service and government; civil society, and entrepreneurship.

According to DCM Lapenn, “this was an invaluable opportunity for us to hear from some of the young Rwandans, who will be guiding their country into the future.

Their vision of what constitutes excellent leadership is both encouraging and inspiring.”

{In an effort to boost food security and incomes for Rwanda’s smallholder dairy farmers, the United States Agency of International Development (USAID) has provided 183 million Rwandan francs (US $240,000) to improve the infrastructure in the country’s milk collection centers (MCC), dairy processors, and small and medium enterprises. This award was made possible through the 5-year, USAID-supported Rwanda Dairy Competiveness Program II (RDCP II), which is being implemented by Land O’Lakes International Development.}

The funding from USAID has enabled Land O’Lakes to purchase items which include motorized tricycles for transporting milk, animal feed equipment, milk cooling tanks, batch pasteurizers, butter and cheese making equipment, milk cans, generators, and an 8,000 liter insulated milk transportation tank.

“I am very excited to have established this partnership with RDCP II,” says Haji Saidi Havugimana, founder of Haji Dairy Enterprise Ltd, which is one of several small-to-medium sized enterprises improving livelihoods in Rwanda’s Nyanza district. The equipment is enabling his company and others like it, to strengthen the Rwandan dairy sector’s competitiveness with product diversification, as well as increased milk volumes and improved quality.

Other companies approved for the equipment include: Bugesera district’s Bugesera Milk Collection Center; Gatsibo district’s Mudacos; Gasabo district’s Angeana Fresh Dairy Limited and Gasabo Zirakamwa Dairy Cooperative; Gicumbi district’s IAKIB; Huye district’s Vetoprox,Agiragitereka and Kidaco; Nyabihu district’s Muhe farm; Nyagatare district’s NADCO; Rubavu district’s Coderu and Fromagerie la Reine; Rulindo district’s CSTOR; and Rwamagana district’s Ndukundamatungo, and Coopag.

According to the Chief of Party for RDCP II, Frank O’Brien, the five-year program aims to reduce poverty through expanded marketing of quality milk that generates income, provides greater employment opportunities, and improves nutrition of rural households.

Currently in its inaugural year, through the generous support of the American people through USAID, RDCP II has grants available to support the Rwanda dairy sector until January 2017. The initiative particularly encourages applications from women, women-owned enterprises, and initiatives that directly enhance the livelihoods of women.

{Boxing great Muhammad Ali saluted the legacy of Nelson Mandela Thursday, saying the revered icon of South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle “taught us forgiveness on a grand scale.”}

Ali’s was just one of the tributes that poured in from the world of sport in the wake of Mandela’s death at the age of 95.

Ali, the former heavyweight world champion who himself became a beloved civil rights campaigner, said he was “deeply saddened” by Mandela’s death.

“His was a life filled with purpose and hope; hope for himself, his country and the world,” Ali said. “He inspired others to reach for what appeared to be impossible and moved them to break through the barriers that held them hostage mentally, physically, socially and economically. He made us realize, we are our brother’s keeper and that our brothers come in all colors.”

“What I will remember most about Mr. Mandela is that he was a man whose heart, soul and spirit could not be contained or restrained by racial and economic injustices, metal bars or the burden of hate and revenge. He taught us forgiveness on a grand scale. His was a spirit born free, destined to soar above the rainbows. Today his spirit is soaring through the heavens. He is now forever free.”

World football chief Sepp Blatter, in Brazil on the eve of the draw for the 2014 World Cup, called Mandela “one of the greatest humanists of our time and a dear friend of mine.”

Blatter paid warm personal tribute to Mandela, who famously embraced South Africa’s predominantly white rugby team after they won the 1995 World Cup on home soil in a poignant moment of racial reconciliation.

“He and I shared an unwavering belief in the extraordinary power of football (and sport generally) to unite people in peace and friendship, and to teach basic social and educational values as a school of life,” said Blatter.

Golf great Tiger Woods recalled meeting Mandela in 1998, the year after his first Masters triumph.

Woods was playing a tournament in South Africa, and he and his father, Earl, were invited to lunch at Mandela’s home.

“It was one of the most inspiring times I’ve ever had in my life,” said Woods, who also marveled at Mandela’s capacity for forgiveness and ability to forge reconciliation after two decades in prison.

“I don’t think any of us probably here could have survived that and come out as humble and as dignified as he did. To lead an entire nation and to basically love the world when he came out, I think that’s a testament to his will and his spirit and who he was.”

Another golf great, South Africa’s own Gary Player, tweeted his respects.

“Condolences to all on the passing of our beloved Father of the South African Nation, Nelson Mandela. Madiba we loved you. Rest in Peace,” Player said on Twitter.

Portugal football captain Cristiano Ronaldo posted a picture on his Facebook page of himself with Mandela, taken at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

“Thankyou Madiba for your legacy and your example,” he wrote. “You’ll always stay with us.”

“We have lost a true gentleman and a courageous human being. It was truly an honor to have known a man who had genuine love for so many people,” said former England football captain David Beckham.

AFP

{Nelson Mandela, who guided South Africa from the shackles of apartheid to multi-racial democracy and became an international icon of peace and reconciliation, died Thursday at age 95.}

Imprisoned for nearly three decades for his fight against white minority rule, Mandela emerged determined to use his prestige and charisma to bring down apartheid while avoiding a civil war.

“The time for the healing of the wounds has come. The moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has come,” Mandela said in his acceptance speech on becoming South Africa’s first black president in 1994.

“We have, at last, achieved our political emancipation.”

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda via his Twitter account wrote “ Madiba- President (1st,post-apartheid SA) passes on-but what is certain he will continue to live in the hearts of many of us rest in peace”

President Barack Obama hailed Mandela as a leader who left his country with a legacy of freedom and peace with the world.

“He achieved more than could be expected of any man,” Obama said at the White House shortly after the announcement of Mandela’s death.

“Today he’s gone home, and we’ve lost one of the most influential, courageous and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this earth,” Obama said.

President Jacob Zuma’s announcement of the death late on Thursday shook South Africa. The streets of the capital Pretoria and of Johannesburg were hushed, and in bars and nightclubs, music was turned off as people gathered to quietly talk about the news.

A sombre Zuma told the nation in a televised address that Mandela “passed on peacefully in the company of his family around 20h50 on the 5th of December 2013”.

“He is now resting. He is now at peace,” Zuma said.

Tributes began flooding in almost immediately for a man who was a global symbol of struggle against injustice and of racial reconciliation.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron called Mandela “a hero of our time”. “A great light has gone out in the world,” he said.

Praise also came from African leaders. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said the death “will create a huge vacuum that will be difficult to fill in our continent.”
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu said Mandela was “one of the most honorable figures of our time … a man of vision, a freedom fighter who rejected violence.”

“Today a great freedom fighter, Nelson Mandela has died, one of the world’s most important symbols of freedom,” said Moussa Abu Marzouk, a senior official of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas group, calling Mandela “one of the biggest supporters of our cause.”

In Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro declared three days of national mourning.

“Nine months since the passing of our comandante (Hugo Chavez), another giant of the people of the world passed away today. Madiba you will live forever!” Maduro said on Twitter.

Ordinary South Africans were in shock. “It feels like it’s my father who has died. He was such a good man, who had good values the nation could look up to. He was a role model unlike our leaders of today,” said Annah Khokhozela, 37, a nanny, speaking in Johannesburg.

Mourners gathered outside Mandela’s home and spontaneous tributes sprang up around the world.

The famed Apollo Theater in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, which Mandela visited in 1990, lit its marquee with the words: “In memory of Nelson Mandela … He changed our world.”

In Washington, flowers and candles were set at the base of a statue of Mandela outside the South African Embassy.

Outside Mandela’s old house in Vilakazi Street, Soweto, a crowd of people, some with South African flags draped around them, gathered to sing songs in praise of the revered statesman. “Mandela you brought us peace” was one of the songs.

“I have mixed feelings. I am happy that he is resting, but I am also sad to see him go,” said Molebogeng Ntheledi, 45, reflecting the mix of reverence and resignation with which South Africans had been following Mandela’s fight against illness.

National figures were quick to play down fears expressed by a minority that the passing of the great conciliator might lead again to a return of the racial and political tensions that racked South Africa during the apartheid era.

“To suggest that South Africa might go up in flames – as some have predicted – is to discredit South Africans and Madiba’s legacy,” another veteran anti-apartheid leader, former Archbishop of Cape Town Desmond Tutu, said. “Madiba” is Mandela’s clan name.

“The sun will rise tomorrow, and the next day and the next … It may not appear as bright as yesterday, but life will carry on,” Tutu said in a statement of tribute.

{{Source}}: Chicago Tribune
{{Additional reporting}}: IGIHE