Last week Global Citizen announced our campaign for the year 2022: the End Extreme Poverty NOW — Our Future Can’t Wait campaign, bringing the mission timeline forward from 2030 as initially laid out by the United Nations’ Global Goals, to right now.

We’re calling on world and business leaders to take immediate action on three critical issue areas on which the world can no longer afford to wait: empowering adolescent girls across the world; breaking the systemic barriers that keep people trapped in poverty; and taking meaningful climate action now.

As we announced the campaign, we also welcomed the voices of some of the most influential leaders around the globe to help ensure this critical and urgent call is heard and acted on immediately. 

These voices include the likes of Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Amina J. Mohammed; President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa; President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo; and President of the Republic of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema. You can read more of what they had to say on this campaign, and their calls to action, here. 

Now, adding to the influential voices from around the world, we’re delighted to announce that Global Citizen has welcomed billionaire philanthropist and Chairman and Founder of Lebashe Investment Group, Tshepo Mahloele as patron of the campaign in Africa. 

Mahloele is a leading African businessman who has endeavoured in the private equity space for over two decades. Born and raised in South Africa, Global Citizen’s new patron to Africa is deeply dedicated to progressing Africa’s overall development, bringing poverty to an end on the continent, and holding its leaders in all fields accountable to their commitments.

He will serve alongside influential business leaders joining Global Citizen on the mission to call for an end to extreme poverty around the world, including Chuck Robbins of Cisco, Hans Vestberg of Verizon, Jane Fraser of Citi, Marc Pritchard of Procter & Gamble, and Sandiaga Uno, Indonesia’s Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy in this role, and helped to announce the partnership at a campaign launch event in Johannesburg, South Africa on March 29, 2022. 

“I am honoured and humbled to play a meaningful role that supports existing global efforts to deal with vaccine equity, challenge poverty, and empower young girls,” Mahloele said in a statement. “The neglect of these predicaments, including global warming, have a detrimental effect on the prospects of the citizens of Africa and this situation cannot be allowed to continue unabated. It is about time these matters are brought back on the global agenda.” 

He added: “I am happy that the Global Citizen movement has reignited the debate about such critical matters and that it is continuing to keep Africa top of mind.”

As patron of Global Citizen in Africa, Mahloele will be helping to advance Global Citizen’s campaign across the continent, standing beside us as we call for immediate action and change for Africa and her people. 

The need to bring extreme poverty to an immediate end on the continent is urgent now more than ever; Africa is facing significant issues as it pertains to our campaigns three issue focuses. The continent as a whole was left behind and not considered in the race to secure life-saving COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, prolonging the pandemic for everyone, everywhere. 

Adolescent girls have been subjected to unbelievable rates of gender-based violence and abuse across the continent, and need to be protected and empowered through education access, health care including sexual and reproductive health and rights, and access to nutritious food. Finally, despite contributing the least to causing it, Africa is already experiencing some of the greatest impacts of the climate crisis. We’ve wrapped up more on why Global Citizen wants to end extreme poverty in Africa, and how the End Extreme Poverty NOW campaign will work to achieve this, here. 

You can join the End Extreme Poverty NOW — Our Future Can't Wait campaign by signing up as a Global Citizen (either here or by downloading the Global Citizen app) and joining us in taking action, now.