The 2021 AfCFTA Youth Continental Essay Competition

The 2021 AfCFTA Continental Youth Essay Competition is intended to Amplify Continental Mobilization, Awareness, Engagement, and Participation of African young people between the ages of 18 and 35 years in the Popularization and Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA). Some time ago, I wrote about the AfCFTA and one opportunity to win funding from them. If you have not read that blog, I encourage you to check it out to learn more about what the AfCFTA is all about so you can tailor your essay accordingly. I also encourage you to do a quick Google search to understand more about the AfCFTA before writing your essay. That being said, let me get into more details about this particular opportunity.

About the Competition

As part of the AfCFTA Youth Inclusion Accelerator Project, the essay competition will harness the energy, creativity and initiative of Africa’s youth in promoting the AfCFTA, as well as inspire policymakers and society as a whole towards action, from the thoughts of youth from the 55 African Union Member States with regards to practical implementation AfCFTA Agreement.

The AfCFTA Continental Essay competition is based on the findings of the continental scoping study on AfCFTA youth inclusion, which sighted youth AfCFTA awareness and capacity building as a major prerequisite for the holistic implementation of the agreement. Therefore, the essay competition seeks to build the awareness and knowledge capacity of African young people between the ages of 18 and 35 years and position them as key stakeholders and contributors in accelerating the implementation of the AfCFTA.

Essay Theme

The 2021 AfCFTA Youth Continental Essay Competition theme is: How can Africa’s Young Entrepreneurs and Innovators Make the AfCFTA ‘Magic’ Happen?

Essay Sub-themes

The essay should be written along ONE of the following sub-themes:

a) Youth inclusion in AfCFTA Institutional Framework

b) Digital Disruptions: Innovations that can spur AfCFTA implementation in Post-COVID Times

c) Youth mobilization and organizing for effective AfCFTA Implementation

d) Gender mainstreaming in AfCFTA Implementation and operationalization

e) Made-in-Africa: Boosting intra-African trade by promoting a culture of buying Quality African Goods and Services

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Awards

The top 5 essay participants (one per sub-theme) will have an opportunity to attend the continental Young Leaders and Policy Makers Summer School (BootCamp) in Arusha, Tanzania.

Essay Guidelines/Eligibility

The essay should be submitted by an African Youth between the ages of 18-35, who is a citizen of any of the 55 Member States of the African Union, or an African youth residing in the diaspora. Young women and differently-abled persons are particularly encouraged to apply.
There are no particular rules regarding formatting (font style, size, line space, etc.). However, essays must be submitted in MS WORD.
The essay length should be between 800-1000 words, written in any of these four African Union working languages (English, French, Portuguese & Arabic). Your name and essay title are not included in the word count limit.
Only one entry per person is accepted.
Essays must be original and unpublished. Plagiarized entries will be rejected.
Entries must be submitted online. Send your essay entry to the email address [email protected].
Essays must be written by one person. Co-authored papers are not accepted.
Copyright of the essays entered will be assigned to the organizer, with recognition given to the writer.

Note: We are unable to confirm receipt of essays due to the volume.

Deadlines

Essay Entries must be received by September 16th, 2021 (23:59 East African Time).
Essay winners will be announced on - September 29th 2021 - at the All-Africa Youth Virtual Debate Competition on the AfCFTA.

How to Apply

As already mentioned, please send your essay entry to the email address: [email protected].

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Disclaimer: Some unscrupulous individuals might try to defraud you by impersonating us. They may send you an email telling you that we guarantee you a scholarship, job, internship, grant or any other opportunity if you pay some money. Please, we do not guarantee anything. And what is more, we do not call, text, or send people emails asking for money, neither do we charge a dime in providing you with these opportunities. Kindly disregard such messages. If you are not sure of something, shoot us an email.