Are you a postgraduate student passionate about shaping Africa’s future through policy, research, and youth-led innovation? The South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) invites applications to the Africa Youth Portal Research Programme, a premier initiative empowering the next generation of African researchers and policy influencers.

This programme also celebrates the soft launch of the newly rebranded Africa Portal — now the Africa Youth Portal, a vibrant platform dedicated to youth-led research and policy engagement across the continent.

Programme Overview

The Africa Youth Portal Research Programme provides intensive training, mentorship, and publication opportunities for 20 exceptional postgraduate youth researchers from across Africa.

Core to the programme is a week-long in-person training workshop titled:

“From Academia to the Think Tank: A Young Researcher’s Journey”

This workshop equips participants with essential policy research skills, communication techniques, and exposure to professional think tank processes. After the workshop, participants receive ongoing mentorship to support their academic-to-policy transition.

Eligibility: Open to All African Nationals

The programme is open to young postgraduate researchers from every African country, ensuring broad continental representation and diversity. Eligible nationalities include:

Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Kinshasa), Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

This wide eligibility ensures that the Africa Youth Portal Research Programme is truly pan-African, welcoming voices from North, West, East, Central, and Southern Africa.

What Participants Will Gain

✓ Expert Mentorship

Guidance from leading policy specialists and senior researchers.

This wide eligibility ensures that the Africa Youth Portal Research Programme is truly pan-African, welcoming voices from North, West, East, Central, and Southern Africa.

What Participants Will Gain

✓ Expert Mentorship

Guidance from leading policy specialists and senior researchers.

✓ Intensive Training

Practical sessions designed to bridge academic research and policymaking.

✓ Publication Opportunities

A platform to publish original work on the Africa Youth Portal, showcasing youth perspectives across Africa.

✓ Continental Networking

Engagement with peers, mentors, and SAIIA’s extensive policy community.

Ideal Candidates

This programme is perfect for:

• Master’s or PhD students

• Youth passionate about African development, governance, climate resilience, economics, peacebuilding, or social transformation

• Emerging researchers seeking to convert academic work into policy impact