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Asafika Mpako

Communication unit
Asafika is the communications coordinator for Southern Africa

Biography


Asafika Mpako is the Communications coordinator for Southern Africa at Afrobarometer.

Asafika specializes in policy influencing, particularly in sharing research findings through non-academic communications outputs such as press releases, evidence briefs, infographics, data visuals, television, radio and other media, enabling local and international stakeholders to make informed programmatic decisions, and to generate and evaluate policy interventions. She carries a strong publication record, including the ability to present research findings to non-technical audiences and to synthesize evidence for engagement with academic, stakeholder and policy communities.

Her professional and academic experiences span four continents – Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. She launched her career as a Global Education Intern in the Emerging Global Leaders Internship Program at the World Affairs Council, Washington, D.C, and her policy studies have taken her from Cape Town to Beijing to London, and more recently to Oxford and Bridgewater, Massachusetts.

Asafika holds a Bachelors from the University of Cape Town, and Masters degrees from Peking University and the London School of Economics, including certificates from the University of Oxford and Bridgewater State University, respectively.

She has been featured in the UK Financial Times on the global list of 2023 Women of the Future, 50 Rising Stars in ESG. This is an initiative, in association with Tesco, that highlights trailblazing young women working across all industries, geographies and sectors in ESG.

Asafika is also the recipient of the Mandela Washington Fellowship Award, the United States flagship program for investing in the next generation of young, African leaders.

Publications

Dispatch
AD789: Angolan youth’s discontent marked by concern about health, jobs, food and water insecurity
25 Mar 2024
Dispatch
AD787: Mauritians rank gender-based violence as top women’s-rights issue for government to address
22 Mar 2024
Dispatch
AD774: Mozambicans give government poor marks on its efforts to promote equal rights for women
26 Feb 2024
Dispatch
AD773: Namibian youth demand that government make job creation a top priority
23 Feb 2024
Dispatch
AD772: Mauritian youth see jobs, crime, and economy as top priorities for government attention
23 Feb 2024
Dispatch
AD752: South Africans praise government’s COVID-19 response but express concern over corruption, find pandemic assistance lacking
23 Dec 2023
Dispatch
AD744: Young Zimbabweans see their government as falling short on employment and the economy
7 Dec 2023
Dispatch
AD740: South Africans want to see greater government initiative to promote gender equality
29 Nov 2023
Dispatch
AD738: South Africans see gender-based violence as most important women’s-rights issue to address
24 Nov 2023
Dispatch
AD681: South African youth say government is failing to address their top priority: jobs
8 Aug 2023
Dispatch
AD664: Em Angola, a maioria dos residentes rurais está privada do acesso à rede eléctrica
4 Jul 2023
Dispatch
AD664: Lack of access, connection to the electric grid still plagues most rural residents in Angola
4 Jul 2023
Dispatch
AD658: Zimbabweans offer bleak outlook on the state of the economy
24 Jun 2023
Dispatch
AD655: Os Angolanos rejeitam as restrições governamentais sobre o direito à informação
20 Jun 2023
Dispatch
AD655: Angolans reject government restrictions on information, say media should report freely
20 Jun 2023
Dispatch
AD644: Amid electricity crisis, South Africans want end to government monopoly
28 May 2023
Dispatch
AD643: Mauritians’ dissatisfaction with leaders mirrors distrust, perceived corruption, economic strain
22 May 2023
Dispatch
AD630: Zimbabweans support multiparty competition, say policy preferences inform voter decisions
11 Apr 2023
Dispatch
AD617: South Africans endorse taxation, say it is fair to tax the rich at higher rates to support the poor
17 Mar 2023
Dispatch
AD615: Despite growing evidence, climate change is still unknown to many South Africans
9 Mar 2023
Dispatch
AD519: South Africans endorse self-reliant development but question free trade and loan conditionalities
19 May 2022
Dispatch
AD494: South Africans say gender-based violence worsening, blame substance abuse
7 Dec 2021
Dispatch
AD467: South Africans support government’s COVID-19 response but are critical of corruption and skeptical of vaccines
28 Jul 2021