Africa Future Skills Youth Policy Prize
Five young Africans win a seat in the room where the Indaba designs its frameworks, each bringing a policy brief that feeds one Charrette group or Network Working Group.
- Who can apply
- Young policy thinkers aged 18 to 25 across Africa.
- Places
- 5 winners, one per track.
- Languages
- English.
- What it produces
- Five Policy Design Briefs, used on Day Two morning in Charrette Groups A to C and the Forum report-back, and in Network Working Groups 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6.
What you do
Submit an anonymised abstract. If you reach Stage 2, write a Policy Design Brief and record a short video. Winners present for five minutes on Day Two, and their briefs feed the Charrette groups and Network Working Groups.
What you get
- Full-expenses participation from Day Zero to Day Three
- A five-minute presentation on Day Two
- Publication of your brief
- A three-month internship, with the stipend paid by the host
- Six months of mentorship
- Founding youth membership of the Africa Future Skills Network
- R5 000 each, only if a Prize sponsor pays it
The five tracks
- Head: Curriculum, Competency & the Just Transition
- Hands: Employer Engagement & Work-Integrated Learning
- Heart: Policy, Equity & Accountability
- Heritage: Green & Digital Value Chains in local economies
- Humanity: Credentials that travel
How to apply
- Read the call, the track questions and the reading list for your track. A bilingual information webinar runs on 13 November 2026 and is recorded.
- Submit an anonymised abstract of 400 to 600 words by 20 November 2026, 23:59 South African time.
- If invited to Stage 2 (11 December 2026), submit a Policy Design Brief of 1 800 to 2 500 words and a video link by 10 January 2027.
- The top three per track are interviewed from 1 to 5 February 2027.
- Winners are announced on 12 February 2027.
How people are selected
Two judges per track score the anonymised abstracts. The top five per track are invited to Stage 2. Three-person interview panels, including an Education for Hope representative and a youth panellist aged 25 to 30, interview the top three per track. The Participant Selection Committee makes the final selection. Co-conveners: APEA with the Club of Rome Education for Hope Initiative and the Pedagogical Science Institute; academic partners UNISA, HSRC and the SACSE Lab.
From the call to the Indaba and beyond.
- Call opens
- Information webinar (bilingual, recorded)
- Abstracts close, 23:59 South African time
- Stage 2 invitations
- Briefs and video links due
- Interviews
- Winners announced
- Winners return edited briefs
- Briefs published in the reading pack addendum