Rockefeller Foundation Launches First Class of Big Bets Fellows Focused on Africa
NAIROBI, Kenya, April 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- During its second annual AfricaXchange Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, The Rockefeller Foundation launched the inaugural class of Africa Big Bets Fellows who are focused on driving transformational change across the continent. Ten leaders from Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, and Tanzania will participate in an intensive five-month fellowship designed to elevate their innovative solutions for advancing energy access, food security, financial inclusion, economic opportunity, healthcare, climate resilience, migration, and more. The inaugural Africa Big Bets Fellows cohort marks the 60th anniversary of The Rockefeller Foundation's Africa Regional Office, which opened in 1966, with the Foundation supporting charitable initiatives across health, food, energy, climate, economic opportunity, and more for over a century.
"For decades, The Rockefeller Foundation has been honored to work with the dreamers, leaders, thinkers, scientists, innovators, and others who have shaped Africa's future," said Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation. "Through the Africa Big Bets Fellowship, we are backing a new generation of leaders who are scaling ideas that expand opportunity, strengthen resilience, and improve lives across Africa."
Across Africa, communities continue to face barriers to opportunity and resilience, from limited access to energy and finance to growing climate and migration pressures. Today, approximately 600 million people across the continent live without access to electricity, accounting for more than 80% of the global population without power. And despite being on the frontlines of the climate crisis, Africa receives only around 12% of global climate finance. This gap is especially stark given the continent's vast natural resources. With the right planning and investment, up to 76% of Africa's energy needs could be met by renewable sources by 2040.
"This year's Big Bets Fellows reflect the strength of African leadership in tackling some of today's most pressing challenges," said William Asiko, Senior Vice President, Africa Regional Office, The Rockefeller Foundation. "Their work shows how locally driven innovation across areas such as food systems and clean energy can deliver solutions that are scalable, globally relevant, and improve lives across the continent and beyond."
The first 10 Africa Big Bets Fellows, who were selected from a diverse pool of nominees from the Big Bets network and external partners, will participate in a five-month intensive program. With peer learning and access to global networking, the fellowship is designed to help scale their ideas and innovative solutions to advance universal energy abundance, strengthen food security and nutrition, and increase access to healthcare, financial tools, green jobs, real-time data on migration, climate solutions, and more:
This year's Africa Big Bets Fellows were announced at the 2026 edition of AfricaXchange — an annual convening of funders, practitioners, and changemakers focused on advancing innovative, locally led development across the continent. Hosted by The Rockefeller Foundation's Africa Regional Office, AfricaXchange 2026 centers on deploying the philanthropic capital needed to drive self-determination. At its core was a clear ambition: to ensure that Africa's future is built, financed, and led by Africans, a vision captured in this year's theme, "money, markets, and mindsets."
For over 110 years, The Rockefeller Foundation has worked in Africa to address critical issues of poverty, health, food security, energy access, and economic instability. Established in 1913, the Foundation was the first U.S. philanthropic organization to engage in extensive health work in Africa. The next chapter got underway around the time that The Rockefeller Foundation opened its Africa Regional Office in Nairobi in 1966 and shifted its strategy from largely focusing on single-disease eradication campaigns to multidisciplinary development programs focusing on long-term institutional stability and food security. Even before the creation of the Africa Regional Office, The Rockefeller Foundation supported hundreds of exceptional individuals through fellowship programs like the Warren Weaver Fellowship which ran from 1989 to 2000 and its "RockyDocs" programs which supported more than 130 fellows between 1984 and 2000.
Today, approximately one-third of The Rockefeller Foundation's total funding is dedicated to the continent, with its largest grants centering on expanding access to electricity, supporting nutritious school meals, often sourced from local produce grown through regenerative methods, and strengthening community health systems with data-driven decisions. The Africa Big Bets Fellows represent the next chapter of this legacy, backing leaders whose ideas are already delivering impact, and accelerating solutions. The first Africa cohort follows the successful launches of Big Bets Fellowships over the last two years in Latin America and the Caribbean, United States, and Asia-Pacific.
About The Rockefeller Foundation
Investing $30 billion over the last 113 years to promote the well-being of humanity, The Rockefeller Foundation is a pioneering philanthropy built on unlikely partnerships and innovative solutions that deliver measurable results for people in the United States and around the world. We leverage scientific breakthroughs, artificial intelligence, and new technologies to make big bets across energy, food, health, and finance, including with our public charity, RF Catalytic Capital (RFCC). For more information, sign up for our newsletter at www.rockefellerfoundation.org/subscribe and follow us on X @RockefellerFdn, Instagram @rockefellerfdn, YouTube @RockefellerFdn, and LinkedIn @the-rockefeller-foundation.
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