President Obama is set to announce the name change at a town hall-style event on Monday in Washington with hundreds of young people from sub-Saharan Africa. The youngsters are participating in the inaugural Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders.
The fellowship is being renamed as a tribute to Mandela, who died last December at age 95. Mandela spent 27 years in jail under South Africa's former system of white minority rule before eventually leading his country through a difficult transition to democracy. In 1994, he became the country's first democratically elected leader.