IBIYEMI IBIKUNLE REPRESENTED NIGERIA AT THE WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP COUNCIL WORKSHOP HELD IN ACCRA, GHANA IN MAY 2024.

African countries play crucial roles in global economic growth, agricultural productivity, food security, and international stability. Despite these opportunities, many sectors face severe skills shortages at professional levels. Australia Awards, a prestigious transformational scholarship programme and flagship initiative of the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), plays a critical role in the Australian development programme across Africa. The Program focuses on enhancing human capacity among emerging African leaders through scholarships for Masters degrees and short-term professional courses. It supports African professionals from diverse sectors – public, private, and civil society – providing opportunities for study, research, and professional skills development that align with bilateral and regional agreements.

In the current 2023-2025 African Programme, DFAT has committed AUD17.1 million to train mid-level professionals in priority sectors such as climate change, agriculture, food security, mining, energy, foreign policy, and international security. These awards equip recipients to drive impactful change and bolster human resource capacity within partner countries.

The Alumni Engagement and On-Award Enrichment Programmes

Australia Awards Africa fosters a robust alumni network spanning 51 African countries, comprising over 6,000 alumni. Through its On-Award Enrichment Programme, Australia Awards Africa supports scholars during their Australian studies, encouraging networking, participation in extracurricular activities, and skills development. These opportunities grow their resilience and human skills and fulfil their leadership and good governance potential. Good corporate governance is not only enhanced by alumni who work in the foreign policy, governance and international security sectors, but also through alumni’s initiation of policy changes and improvements in other priority sectors.

Returning alumni often face challenges reintegrating into their home environments, including resistance and resource constraints for implementing their Reintegration Action Plans. The Programme addresses these hurdles through re-entry workshops and links with country alumni associations. Mentorship programmes, such as a recent pilot initiative pairing scholars with trained alumni mentors, further support alumni in navigating post-study challenges. Alumni are frequently involved in mentorships. Approximately
38.5% of alumni reported in the 2023 Baseline Analysis Study that they mentored others.

Communities of Practice and Nonprofit Organisations

Australia Awards Africa’s comprehensive alumni engagement strategy includes the formation of Communities of Practice (CoPs) and other nonprofit organisations (NPOs) across Africa. These forums facilitate collaboration, knowledge sharing, and locally-led initiatives that bolster alumni careers and showcase the Programme’s sustained impact. Formal CoPs like the Women in Leadership Network (WILN) and the Pan-African Climate Resilience CoP exemplify these collaborative efforts, focusing on gender equality and climate resilience respectively.

The WILN was launched in 2013 and aims to develop and leverage female alumni who are change agents in their countries to facilitate alumni discussions on development issues, promote the sharing of inter-Africa experiences and solutions and implement development activities in local communities. The Pan-African Climate Resilience CoP strives to join African alumni with a common interest in the climate space. The CoP’s members strive to collectively support one another and learn to improve climate adaptation processes, policy-making and governance through regular interaction and collaboration.

Over 30 country-specific alumni associations are NPOs that operate across the African continent. Other more informal CoPs, for example in health, also exist in the broader alumni network.

In 2024, the programme partnered with Inyathelo to enhance the capacity and sustainability of the associations as NPOs through targeted training sessions, podcasts, and capacity-building workshops. This initiative aims to strengthen associations, making them more attractive to members, supporters, and donors.

Gender Equity, Disability and Social Inclusion

Women’s empowerment is integral to Australia Awards Africa, embedded in both program management and delivery. The Programme ensures the inclusion of individuals from marginalised groups, fostering their participation in decision-making and leadership roles. All scholars and alumni are exposed to gender equality, diversity and social inclusion principles through their scholarship journey. The 2023 Baseline Analysis Study revealed that 99% of alumni have a deep understanding and awareness of gender disparities. At least 70% of them are involved in initiatives promoting equality over a wide range of areas such as policy and governance, community engagement and public initiatives, workplace and educational advocacy and sector-specific initiatives.

Success stories

Alumni like Ibrahim Kitoo and Emilline Lawkwang exemplify the Programme’s impact, driving change in Kenya’s infrastructure and governance sectors and Mauritius’s public policy landscape respectively. Their initiatives not only improve governance and compliance but also promote social inclusion and sustainable development.

Ibrahim Kitoo, (Short Course in Public-Private Infrastructure Partnerships, University of Queensland, 2018) has become a driving force in Kenya’s Public-Private Infrastructure Partnerships (PPP) landscape. Ibrahim has a multifaceted role as the Legal and Infrastructure Finance and PPP Expert in the PPP Directorate within the National Treasury of Kenya that impacts people-centred PPP projects and strategic infrastructure. He also serves as an Audit Risk & Compliance Committee member of the Institute of Certified Secretaries (Kenya), an institution tasked with improved governance in Kenya, and serves as a Board Director of World Vision Kenya.

In Mauritius, Emilline Lawkwang’s Master of Public Policy, Monash University, 2021 equipped her to tackle complex societal issues. Emilline informs changes in policy reform, gender development and strategic communication and advises on gender policy or national strategies such as the Greening of the Public Sector Strategy. As the chairperson of the NPO, Kolectif MORInkluSif, Emilline and her fellow group members also play a major role in facilitating discussions between People with Disability, families, authorities and potential employers and in advocating for disability rights in Mauritius.

In conclusion, Australia Awards Africa creates a lasting legacy through its alumni network, connecting leaders across continents and empowering them with worldclass Australian education. These resilient leaders play pivotal roles in shaping Africa’s future, influencing national development agendas, promoting good governance, and advancing social inclusion on both regional and global scales.

This article was first published in the 2024 Inyathelo Annual Report.