Luyanda Mndzebele, a young environmental advocate from Hlane in Eswatini, has been selected to join the latest cohort of the Mercedes‑Benz Fellowship, a global programme that supports young innovators in developing projects that deliver measurable environmental impact.
The Fellowship, launched in 2023, is run by the non‑profit The DO School Fellowships gGmbH and is backed by Mercedes‑Benz Group AG, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. The programme was seeded with proceeds from the €135 million sale of a 1955 Mercedes‑Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé in 2022, the most expensive car ever sold at the time.
Participants receive structured training, mentoring, venture coaching and access to financial support. Fellows who progress through the programme can compete for project scholarships of up to €20 000 (approximately E371 000 at current exchange rates) to help implement and scale their initiatives.
Mndzebele, who is currently studying economics in the United Kingdom, has built a portfolio of projects that combine climate advocacy, education and economics. Her work includes E‑Swati Textile Trace, a platform that connects informal second‑hand clothing traders in Eswatini with industrial recyclers to address textile waste, and RefuPath, an initiative aimed at expanding educational access for refugees.
Her environmental interests began with a small backyard garden in Hlane, where she grew vegetables organically. She later developed a plant booster and promoted climate‑smart agriculture in her community, work that earned her a Rise Fellowship in 2021 and led to involvement in climate and environmental initiatives supporting rural communities.
Mndzebele completed the International Baccalaureate at Waterford KaMhlaba United World College of Southern Africa, spent a gap year in New York, and then moved to the UK to study economics. Her coursework includes Microeconomic Theory, Macroeconomic Theory and Mathematics for Economists, and she has balanced her studies with entrepreneurship and innovation programmes.
In 2023, at the age of 21, Mndzebele travelled to New York for the 80th United Nations General Assembly High‑Level Week. She represented the Global Partnership for Education as a youth leader and participated in discussions on education, climate change, employment, artificial intelligence and sustainable development. She engaged with United Nations Deputy Secretary‑General Amina Mohammed, Assistant Secretary‑General for Youth Affairs Dr Felipe Paullier, and took part in a BBC News Africa Town Hall at the UN headquarters that examined Africa’s readiness for artificial intelligence.
“Education and access to opportunity should translate into practical solutions to problems facing communities,” Mndzebele said. “Looking back, it’s less of a straight line and more a bunch of overlapping interests: climate, education, economics, all circling the same thing. Access. Who gets it, who doesn’t and why.”
Through the Fellowship, Mndzebele hopes to further her work in public policy, sustainability and energy, using the programme’s mentorship and funding opportunities to bring her ideas from concept to implementation.
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Article and image source: eswatiniobserver.com
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