Nawsheen Ahmine: Making waves in Africa

29-year old, Nawsheen Ahmine was chosen to be part of the Mandela Washington Fellowship (MWF) for young African leaders this year. After completing her Fellowship, she has been elected to be part of the Mandela Washington Fellowship Regional Advisory Board (MWF RAB). She shares her experience with News On Sunday.

A barrister-at-law in litigation and advisory work, Nawsheen Ahmine has been part of Mandela Washington Fellowship from June to August 2016 and she has been elected on the Regional Advisory Board for Southern African countries. For her, this election is an honour. As a member of the Board, she has to play the role of an advisor concerning the programmes of Mandela Washington Fellowship in Africa and represent Mauritius at the board. 

“I am proudly representing Mauritius on the Board, with the support of the local Mandela Washington Fellows. I had my very first board meeting last week, with the other nine board members from Angola, South Africa, Madagascar, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe. As Regional Advisory Board members, we serve in an advisory role and work with USAID and IREX on the USAID-funded follow-on programming in Africa and we participate in the development and implementation of Communities of Practice. We represent our country and the full diversity of Fellows from our region on the respective Boards,” she shares joyfully.

As a lawyer, Nawsheen wants to capitalise on the growing demand for law courses by small and medium-sized local businesses. Toward that end, along with her colleagues, she set up an innovative training institute, BC Executive Ltd., to provide tailor-made legal courses to non-lawyer professionals and executives. The institute is now accredited by the Mauritius Qualifications Authority and plans to launch its first class this year. In her free time, she volunteers for SPEAK Human Rights and environmental initiatives, a pro-bono law firm which provides legal support to marginalised communities.

Her journey in MWF 

Mandela Washington Fellowship is the flagship programme of President Obama for young African Leaders. In the context of this programme, Nawsheen was placed at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, with 24 other fellows from across Africa. “There are three tracks for the Fellowship, namely Public Management, Civil Leadership and Business and Entrepreneurship. I chose the Business & Entrepreneurship track when I applied for the programme. It has been an amazing six weeks during which I learned a lot about entrepreneurship and also developed my skills, such as leadership and networking, amongst others. We had classes and the opportunity to visit companies such as General Motors, Quicken Loans and the Facebook office in D.C. We also learned about each other’s culture during these six weeks.  The highlight of the Fellowship was when President Obama addressed the 1,000 Fellows in Washington D.C,” she reveals. 

Future projects 

As part of the programme, the young leaders must come forward with a project to serve their community. Commenting on her project, Nawsheen says “the 12 of us (Mauritian MWF 2016) are currently working on the organization of a two-day leadership conference, funded by the U.S Department of State, which will take place at the beginning of February 2017. We will have some thought-provoking themes/discussions from seasoned professionals and from some of the past Fellows as well. We aim to encourage the younger community to become positive agents of change and become innovative leaders,” she confides. 

Mentoring young students 

According to the lawyer, unemployment is one of the major issues faced by many young degree holders in Mauritius. “There are many factors contributing to youth unemployment. One reason is lack of proper career guidance available to students when they are in secondary school and they are therefore not necessarily aware of the options available and of the employment market demand. I would like to mentor young students who need guidance in that respect, which will help them in deciding which career path to follow and thus hopefully address the issue of unemployment to a certain extent.”

Professional pathway

Nawsheen is the niece of lawyer Rashid Ahmine and he was the one who encouraged her to delve into this challenging field. “I had always an interest for law. My uncle who has years of experience in law encouraged me to get into this field. He has guided and helped me a lot,” she says.

Former student at Loretto of Port-Louis, she studied law at the University of Liverpool and studies Bar Vocational Course at University of Northumbria in Newcastle. In 2010, she was called to the bar in England Wales and in Mauritius in 2012.  She is currently an independent lawyer at Balgobin Chambers. Nawsheen is also a volunteer in the organisation Speak Human Rights and Environmental Initiatives. She joined this organisation when she started to work at Balgobin chambers.