President Barack Obama is honoring one of his personal mentors with a public act–renaming an African fellowship program for Nelson Mandela, the late Nobel Peace Prize winner who was a hero in much of the world for his fight against apartheid in South Africa. The fellowship is currently called the “Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders.”
Obama launched a “Young African Leaders Initiative” in 2010 in an effort to influence more young Africans–and to counterbalance the increasing influence of China in Africa. The president will announce the renaming officially on Monday, along with a “series of new public-private partnerships involving Africa,” according to USA Today.
