The Obama Foundation on Friday said it had selected 200 rising leaders from forty-four African countries for its civic leadership programme in the continent.

Dubbed “The Obama Foundation Leaders: Africa programme”, the one-year leadership development and civic engagement programme aims to train, support and connect emerging African leaders to create positive change in their communities.

“We want to inspire, empower, and connect this pan-African group of leaders who show so much potential to change our common future for the better,” said Bernadette Meehan, Chief International Officer of the Obama Foundation.

The selected young leaders — working in government, civil society and the private sector— have in the past demonstrated extraordinary potential for impact and capacity to advance the common good within their spheres of influence.

The programme will be launched by former US President Barrack Obama on July 14 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

President Obama will also deliver the annual Nelson Mandela memorial lecture on 17 July, to commemorate 100 years since the anti-apartheid icon was born.

In his funeral address in 2013, Obama said Mr Mandela "makes me want to be a better man" and hailed him as "the last great liberator of the 20th century".

About 4,000 people are expected to attend the lecture, which runs from July 14 to 18.