The Sunday Mail
African Union (AU) Commission chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat recently appointed a Zimbabwean, Ms Chido Cleopatra Mpemba, as Youth Envoy to the Commission. The former Girls College pupil, who has a consuming passion for youth issues, raised the country’s flag high by securing the post after beating hundreds of contestants from across the continent to take over from Ms Aya Chebbi from Tunisia. The Sunday Mail’s Tanyaradzwa Rusike (TR) spoke to Ms Chido Mpemba (CM) about her recent appointment and her vision for African youths.
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TR : Can you give us a brief background of who Chido Mpemba is?
CM: Ms Chido Mpemba is the incoming Special Envoy on Youth appointed by the chairperson of the African Union Commission on November 1, 2021, as the youngest diplomat and senior official in the chairperson’s cabinet.
She is a Pan-African youth advocate on a mission to use her strengths, influence and voice to lead work that changes the lives of young people in communities.
Ms Mpemba has worked with various institutions to co-ordinate activities to support marginalised communities and manage youth-focused initiatives on social equity, policy advocacy and climate change.
She is a Mandela Washington Fellow Alumni and also part of the Global Shapers Community, an initiative of the World Economic Forum. Under the Global Shapers Community, she has held leadership roles, including being selected as part of the Global Taskforce representing the Africa region, former Hub Curator, Partnerships Lead and Climate Reality Leader.
Ms Mpemba has strong private-sector experience, having started her career as a banker at Standard Chartered Bank for seven years.
She has also worked on short-term assignments including with the Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, Kirsty Coventry.
In her earlier years as a student at the University of Cape Town, she facilitated and led an event for young women which was attended by Graca Machel.
She was a visiting fellow at Dartmouth College, Rockefellar Centre for Public Policy and Social Sciences in the United States.
She holds an MBA from Midlands State University and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Cape Town.
TR: How did you develop an interest in issues affecting young people?
CM: As a young person myself, I understand and relate to the issues we are faced with today. That sparked an interest in wanting to take a lead in changing the narrative for future generations. It is also a passion I was born with. It is in me and that is who I am.
I was fortunate to be in an environment that allowed this passion to thrive and provided me with opportunities to further develop my interests.
During my years as a banker, my organisation was supportive of my interests and would create opportunities for me to harness my skills through innovative initiatives for young people.
TR : You are the first Zimbabwean to be appointed African Union Youth Envoy, what does this appointment mean to you?
CM: It makes me proud to be Zimbabwean.
Zimbabweans are breaking glass ceilings everywhere, including Cara Black who recently won first place in the (fan vote) for the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022 and the likes of Chido Munyati, who was appointed the head of Africa at the World Economic Forum, to name a few. I am happy to be part of that history.
TR : What was your reaction when you heard that you had been appointed?
CM: I was in a state of shock when I heard the news. During the time of the announcement, I was on an eight-hour flight from the Dubai Expo and upon getting access to wWifi on the plane, my phone started ringing as friends across the continent were calling with the exciting news.
Upon my arrival, I was truly humbled by the welcome I received at the airport from friends and young people who were celebrating this historic victory.
TR : What does the role of being an AU Envoy entail?
CM: The chairperson of the African Union Commission appoints special envoys to support key initiatives championed by the African Union through the office of the chairperson.
In total, there are six envoys that report to the office of the chairperson and cabinet. As a special envoy on youth, I will be in cabinet with a mandate to represent the voices of the youth across the 55-member states of the African Union and advocate for policy interventions in line with the African Youth Charter adopted by the Assembly of Heads of State and the Government.
TR : Can you outline some of the youth initiatives you have been involved in locally?
CM: At local level, I was one of the pioneers of the Zimbabwe Youth Town Hall meetings that provided a platform for young people to voice their opinions in dialogue with business and policy leaders leading up to the meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The town hall meetings were attended by the President of Zimbabwe, Minister of Foreign Affairs (and International Trade), Minister of Finance (and Economic Development), Minister of Industry and Commerce, the World Bank and BancABC chief executive officer as panellists between 2018 and 2020.
I also led the planning of the launch of the United Programme of Artists and Athletes in Zimbabwe, a platform that was created to provide support to young people at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
As a volunteer for the Solidarity Trust Fund, I helped in communication advocacy and strategy to raise more awareness among young people on Covid-19.
As a climate reality leader, I trained over 700 students on climate change and helped in planting climate-resilient trees to promote climate nature-based solutions, as well as fruit trees to provide nutrition in marginalised communities in Zimbabwe.
During my time at Standard Chartered Bank Zimbabwe, I took part in our employee voluntary initiatives, which included teaching financial literacy in marginalised communities.
I also mentor young university students.
TR : What is your vision as you begin your new journey?
CM: My vision is to see more young people included in decision-making structures for inter-generational co-leadership.
I am a robust action-oriented person and as such, I intend to make sure that there are more concrete actions than speeches in the implementation of the African Youth Charter across the continent. I am hitting the ground running on this by facilitating conversations through my first speaking engagement. I was invited by the African Development Bank and Global Adaption Centre at COP26, who have a bold ambition to unlock US$25 billion in financing towards climate adaptation in Africa. Under the youth pillar, they have the youth adaptation accelerator programme, which is aligned to the vision of the African Union Youth Adapt Programme on Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
