A graduate of Nasser Fellowship for International Leadership Wins 2022 Mandela Youth Award

Pearl Maphumulo, 33, is the founder and managing director of The Business Development Agency, a consulting company focused on the development of small businesses across the continent.

The Business Development Agency works closely with the World Bank Group in South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana, and Namibia on projects focused on job creation for youth and women as well as value chain projects.

Pearl is also the president of the Africa80 Foundation, a non-profit organisation investing in young African leaders through intracontinental dialogues and projects that foster collaboration and social cohesion.

She was part of the 2022 Nasser Fellowship for International Leadership in Egypt, which brought together young leaders from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In 2018, Pearl hosted one of the biggest youth development summits on the continent in partnership with the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), the United Nations, Junior Chamber International (JCI), and the Global Citizen Festival. She's currently an ambassador for Brand South Africa and serves on boards in the academic space and public sector.

Nasser Fellowship for International Leadership aims at transferring the ancient Egyptian experience in consolidating and building national institutions, as well as creating a generation of young leaders from non-aligned countries with a vision in line with the South-South partnership, and raising awareness of the role of the Non-Aligned Movement historically and its role in the future, in addition to activating the role of the youth network of member states of the Non-aligned Movement NYM, and networking the most influential young leaders at the level of non-aligned countries and friendly countries