The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has launched a youth creative competition for young people in Africa, as well as those in the Diaspora with African citizenship
The competition titled ‘Umoja Africa Campaign – Youth Contributing to the Implementation of the AfCFTA’ targets young people between the ages of 18 to 35 years.
The youth competition is a collaborative initiative between the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Youth Alliance for Leadership and Development in Africa (YALDA), the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, Afreximbank,the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
It aims to encourage the growth of young leaders in Africa, and enhance youth participation in the implementation and achievement of the African Continental Free Trade Area's initiatives.
Those interested can submit essays, infographics and/ or animation on the topic, ‘The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)’ until 30 September. Winners will be announced in November. The content for the competition should ideally communicate the basic elements of the AfCFTA in a simple and easy to understand way.
The winning essay writer, infographics and animation creators will each receive a cash prize of US$1,000, and the first and second runners up will receive US$500, and US$300 respectively. The essay winner will also receive a paid internship with one of the partner institutions, while others will receive design contracts from partner organisations, among other prizes.
The creative competition is expected to break information asymmetry among youth, about the role and function of AfCFTA, and promote a bottom-up approach for policy formulation and implementation, that contributes to active youth engagement.
According to an International Trade Centre report, Africa is the youngest continent in the world, with a median age of 19.8 years. About 65% of the population in Africa is under the age of 25. It is projected that a third of the youth will live in Africa by 2050. Yet, majority of the young people are unemployed, lack access to financial resources, or face barriers to start and scale up their small business.
The AfCFTA creates an opportunity for the youth by increasing entrepreneurship, and promoting e-commerce.
For details about the competition, visit: https://yaldafrica.org/afcftacompetition
