March 2025 Stakeholder Update

Dear stakeholder

The first quarter of 2025 has flown by, and the year is off to a great start for the Foundation! From welcoming our Class of 2025 to launching The Mandela Rhodes Foundation Podcast, it has been action packed with new connections established, old bonds renewed, and a continued commitment to building exceptional leadership capacity in Africa.

Thought leadership – The Mandela Rhodes Foundation Podcast

In January we launched The Mandela Rhodes Foundation Podcast, an exciting extension of our leadership development initiatives. The series aims to appeal to aspiring African leaders looking to courageously manage complexity and build bridges across divides, through a uniquely African lens. The podcast series will also delve into some trials and triumphs various leaders faced, while rising to the top with grace, integrity, and a commitment to uplift others.

The first podcast episode featured MRF CEO Judy Sikuza, entitled “Balancing legacy and leadership”, who spoke about her leadership journey, challenges, ethical governance and her hopes for Africa’s future leadership.

Episode two featured 2014 MRF Alumni Tumelo Moreri, an actuarial scientist turned healer from Botswana, who spoke about “Why Africa needs healed leaders”.

The third episode will feature 2014 MRF Alumni Dr Kenechukwu Ikebuaku, an entrepreneur from Nigeria, educator and researcher, discussing Africa’s youth entrepreneurship compared to the rest of the world, and how young Africans can navigate this vibrant landscape with innovative tools like AI.

Listen to our podcast series here.

To celebrate the launch of The Mandela Rhodes Foundation Podcast, MRF
CEO Judy Sikuza was interviewed by several high calibre publications 
including Channel Africa, SAfm, Sunday Times Lifestyle and Times Live. The 
interviews reached 975,000 people, an encouraging start to our thought 
leadership efforts for 2025.

 Listen to Judy’s Channel Africa interview here.

From left to right: MRF External Relations Manager Mantombi Makhubele, in conversation with MRF CEO Judy Sikuza

Yearbook

We are proud to release The Mandela Rhodes Foundation’s 2024 Yearbook! Highlights include welcoming in a new Chair of the Board, new Trustees, progress of PhD research by Shaun Johnson Memorial Scholarship recipients, and a reflection on how our Leadership Programme's mandate of inner transformation is being reflected globally via the Inner Development Goals (IDGs).

Read all about it here.

Pan-African outreach

Over the past few years, the African Leadership University (ALU) has provided 4.5% of Mandela Rhodes Scholars including previous no-intake countries like Sierra Leone, Mali and Mauritania. To further nurture this pipeline, a delegation of Mandela Rhodes staff travelled to Kigali in February to spread some MRF magic to hopeful Mandela Rhodes Scholars from across the continent, including Benin and Chad, where Scholarships have yet to be awarded.

While in Kigali, exploratory meetings were also held with potential feeder institutions Kepler College and Bridge2Rwanda, whose students hail from Burundi, DRC, Eritrea (another country where Scholarships have yet to be awarded) as well as Rwanda.

A group of ALU students who hope to be future Mandela Rhodes Scholars, at ALU’s Kigali campus.

Stakeholder relations

Building regional relationships remains core to expanding the MRF brand and impact across the continent and beyond. In February, MRF CEO Judy Sikuza travelled to Nairobi where she hosted an event with MRF Trustee Janet Kabiru, Kenyan-based MRF alumni and local business executives and entrepreneurs. The gathering was well received, opening up possibilities for further exploration on expanding our impact within the East African region.

Kenyan-based MRF alumni and guests in Nairobi.

Judy then travelled to Kigali to meet with business leaders and development 
organisations, with the aim of expanding awareness of the MRF, and
 connecting with new networks of organisations working with young leaders 
who seek to embody the “Mandela way” of leadership and building bridges 
across divides.

MRF CEO Judy Sikuza meeting with a delegation from Vanguard Economics in Kigali.

Programme news

First year programme

After a successful virtual orientation, the Class of 2025 met in Cape Town for their first in-person Leadership Retreat. Scholars explored leadership through the Enneagram and engaged in a Masterclass with MRF CEO Judy Sikuza on “The 7 habits of highly effective people”. A discussion with guest speaker Dr Elizabeth Nanziri, Senior Lecturer and Director of the African Centre for Development Finance at Stellenbosch University looked at leading in complex times. Rated 95% by Scholars, the retreat set the stage for the April Pods gathering, where Scholars will connect regionally, engage with alumni, and explore our newly Board-endorsed Umoya Policy on how we continue to build accountability and belonging as a collective MRF community. The Class of 2025 includes 58 scholars from 17 countries across diverse disciplines.

Second year programme

The first module of the second-year programme took place mid-March. We once again partnered with the Sustainability Institute, and are excited to deliver a programme offering Scholars the opportunity to learn more about sustainability while putting their leadership into practice. This year Second-year Scholars will focus on the themes education and knowledge systems, food systems, governance and climate change. Strong leadership today requires improving learning, ensuring fair decision-making, creating sustainable food solutions, and tackling environmental challenges for a better, more resilient future.

Second-year Scholars at their immersive Leadership Development Programme at the Sustainability Institute in Stellenbosch.

Alumni on the move

Mandela Rhodes Alumni continue to inspire us with their incredible achievements. Our heartfelt congratulations go to:

Siseko Kumalo (South Africa and Rhodes University, 2017) for being appointed as an Associate Professor at the University of Johannesburg. Siseko will be working at the Ali Mazrui Centre of Higher Education Studies.

Zainab Olaitan (Nigeria and University of Cape Town, 2018) published her first book “Women's representation in politics: Beyond numbers”. The book explores challenges and strategies for achieving meaningful political participation for women, emphasising that true representation goes beyond quotas to include influence, impact, and systemic change.

Mikhaila Steenkamp (South Africa and University of Cape Town, 2022) has been selected as a German Chancellor Fellow, based at Ruhr University Bochum in Germany. Mikhaila is investigating how diversity is represented in the curriculum of the Master's in Education programme at her university.

Emmanuel Okello (Uganda and Rhodes University, 2022) has been selected as a Mastercard Foundation PhD Fellow under a project led by the Centre for African Philanthropy and Social Investments, at Wits Business School. The fellowship focuses on research on dignified and fulfilling employment for African youth.

From left to right: Siseko Kumalo, Zainab Olaitan, Mikhaila Steenkamp and Emmanuel Okello.

As the world continues to grapple with uncertainty, changes and opportunities on the horizon, we hope you remain inspired to know that the MRF remains steadfast in its commitment to building exceptional leadership capacity for Africa. All this towards ensuring a more just, equitable, and prosperous African continent for all its people, as our Founding Patron Nelson Mandela envisioned.
 
With warm wishes,
The Mandela Rhodes Foundation