Atlantic Fellows come together to create a better future for Africa ‍

By Patronella Nqaba and Deepa Mann-Kler from the Atlantic Institute

‍

Africa is lagging behind countries in many other parts of the world in achieving the U.N. sustainable development goals, which has an impact on the continent’s prospects.

Fellows in Africa can have more impact if they work together to address some of the continent’s most pressing challenges, which is why the Atlantic Institute hosted its first regional convening in Nairobi, Kenya, at the end of May, 2024.

We invited Fellows from the African continent, diaspora and other parts of the  global south to the four-day event which aimed to give opportunities for forging new relationships as well as strengthening existing ones.  Fellows from six of the seven Atlantic Fellows programs were represented and came from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Liberia,  Thailand, Vietnam, the United States and Brazil. We were also joined by our partners from the Rhodes Trust, the University of Cape Town and AFOX the Africa Oxford Initiative.

This convening reaffirmed a commitment to regional collaboration and action; we articulated clear objectives and strategic goals for those of us working in the region. The Atlantic community is an interconnected organization of seven Atlantic Fellows programs worldwide together with the Atlantic Institute, which acts as the connecting hub. We explored how we can work more across the programs and the continent itself.

The Fellows shared their aspirations for transforming Africa and set out some of the staging posts for getting there. Five intersecting thematic areas have been identified as critical to the future of Africa and are woven into how the Atlantic Institute supports the Fellows’ work:

• Leadership and governance on the continent: We will focus on electoral reform, advocacy and building capable state institutions. 
• Narrative shifting: We will focus on amplifying  Fellows’ voices and their work on the continent and beyond. We also want to engage regional bodies and try to inform their policy-making in line with the findings of Fellows’ work and experience. 
• Building better health systems: We will aim to influence the global agenda, drawing on the case studies and models developed by Fellows and others from the continent. 
• Climate change and the environment and the impact on Africa: We will support Fellows who are mitigating the impacts of climate change and working to protect the land and its peoples.
• Citizenship inequities: We will focus on combating forced migration and visa inequities.

Harnessing the potential of XR (Extended Reality)

We were delighted to offer our Fellows an array of immersive XR activities across the four days, kicking off with a screening of a captivating 360° virtual reality film by Kachi Benson called "Noah's Raft." This film beautifully depicts life in Makoko, Nigeria's largest water settlement, and highlights one man's inspiring mission to provide education for the local children.

After the film, we hosted a panel discussion, "Africa's Future Transformed? The Rise of Emerging Technologies," which featured speakers filmmaker Kachi Benson, Judith Okonkwo, Dr. Rendani Mamphiswana, and Atlantic Fellow Fola Adeleke. The panel discussion chaired by the Atlantic Institute XR Lead, Deepa Mann-Kler, provided insightful perspectives on the transformative potential of emerging technologies across Africa.

Fellows also had the unique opportunity to participate in a narrative-driven 360° virtual reality workshop. They were divided into three groups to script and create scenes for a film. This hands-on workshop culminated in an exciting final day where Fellows put on virtual reality headsets to watch the film they had produced together.

The week introduced Fellows to the power of virtual reality for storytelling and we look forward to more such enriching experiences.

‍