Youth Opportunity & Transformation in Africa (YOTA) 2022 Youth Innovation Challenge for Young Africans | Up to $5,000

Published: 27 Jul 2022 1,702 views

YOTA (Youth Opportunity & Transformation in Africa) is currently accepting applications from African talented young innovators for its 2022 Youth Innovation Challenge.

The goal of the Challenge is to promote and nurture catalytic youth-led solutions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Challenge is part of the Africa Youth Partnership to Advocate for an Equitable Recovery from the COVID-19 Pandemic’s activities.

They are searching for the most outstanding young innovators from Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, and Nigeria to present their ideas and proposed solutions for solving the many issues that the COVID-19 pandemic has posed to the continent. They wish to encourage youth creativity in order to improve inclusive and equitable post-pandemic recovery initiatives.

YOTA Youth Innovation Challenge

Application Deadline	July 29, 2022
Type	Entrepreneurs
Sponsor	Youth Opportunity & Transformation in Africa(YOTA)
Gender	Men and Women

Benefits of YOTA Youth Innovation Challenge

Participants in the Youth Innovation Challenge have the opportunity to receive a variety of resources to help them put their ideas into action, including:

• Up to $5,000 USD of funding per project.
• Business development advice from top experts in the field of innovation and human-centered design.
• Access to carefully curated tools and resources to support the full cycle of youth-led innovation and human-centered design.
• Opportunity to become part of a growing community of young African innovators for ongoing learning, sharing, and networking.
• Opportunity to be supported to showcase solutions across various international multi-stakeholder platforms, processes, and convenings before the end of 2022.

Requirements for YOTA Youth Innovation Challenge

Open to:

• An individual young person between the age of 18 and 35; or an informal group of young people, or a local youth- or women-led organization or company (both non-profit or for-profit are welcome); female candidates or teams with predominantly female members are particularly encouraged to apply.
• Nationals of Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, and Nigeria who are resident in their countries or based in the diaspora.
• Persons who are passionate about using their skills to design innovative solutions to promote addressing the many socio-economic challenges posed to your country by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Truly innovative and impactful ideas or solutions that have the potential to change lives in a sustainable way.

Selection Process

• Fit to scope– Solution contributes to COVID-19 recovery efforts with a potential to disrupt
• Business model – Solution clearly demonstrates a viable business model and scope for revenue generation
• Sustainability – Solution is financially and operationally viable beyond the initial investment
• Feasibility – Solution is viable and in the right direction
• Value – Solution has a strong value proposition
• Creativity – Solution is clearly an innovative approach to addressing the target challenge
• Human centered – Solution is based on feedback from end users in order to solve a real problem for the community
• Scalability – Solution can be easily scaled up and replicated beyond the initial scope

Announcement of shortlisted submissions will be made on August 12, 2022.

Application Deadline

July 29, 2022

How to Apply

Interested and qualified? Go to Youth Opportunity & Transformation in Africa(YOTA) on innovation2022.africanyouthpartnership.org to apply