Refuture Africa / Fellowship applications

Choose your fellowship.
Bring your questions.

Use one application form for the six-month Africa Futures Fellowship or the three-month Africa Futures Research Fellowship. Choose a programme to see the relevant questions and participation information.

Review the full programme

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How we select

Potential, judgement
and a willingness to learn.

We look for people who can connect curiosity with useful work, learn with others and bring the practice into an African context they care about. Relevant experience can come from professional work, community initiatives, study or independent projects.

Our review considers your learning goals and fit with the programme, your contribution to previous work, your curiosity about people and context, and how you collaborate and reflect. You do not need a design degree, a polished portfolio or an academic specialism in African futures.

Applications are reviewed by people. Shortlisted applicants may be invited to a conversation before offers are made. We will contact applicants about next steps. Programme dates, support and final participation terms are confirmed before accepting a place.

Review the participation terms and research and publication principles. The offer for your edition will confirm dates, fees, payment terms, access and completion requirements.

Africa Futures Fellowship: 6 months, 20–25 hours weekly, fee-paying. Research Fellowship: 3 months, 4–6 hours weekly, with free participation as the aim, subject to funding. Review your chosen programme before applying.

Choose one programme. The relevant questions and participation information appear below.

Your application

Four steps, followed by a review. Fields marked * are required. Your answers stay in this tab while it is open; they are not saved as an online draft.

Keep your answers concise and in your own words. There are no word-count requirements. Paragraphs or simple bullet points are welcome. The Futures Reflection and supporting material are optional.

1. About you and your work

Employed, independent, community-based and emerging practitioners are welcome.

Include professional, independent and community practice. There is no minimum number of years.

Fields of work or areas of speciality *

Choose the areas that apply.

Tell us about yourself, your current work and the experience that has shaped your practice. You may include professional, independent, community or voluntary work. A short paragraph is enough.

2. What you want to explore

Food Futures and Health & Wellbeing Futures are the pilot themes. Other suggestions are considered for cohort fit and delivery capacity.

If you already have a topic, name it in one sentence. You can develop it during the fellowship.

What future for Africa would you most like to explore, and why? Describe the question or possibility that interests you, your connection to it, and how it relates to your preferred theme. A developed research proposal is not required. A few paragraphs are enough.

Describe a moment, personal, professional or observed, when you glimpsed what Africa could become. What did that moment reveal about possibility, and what questions did it leave you with? Share as much as you need to explain the moment.

3. Your learning and contribution

Reasons for joining *

Choose all that apply. These help us understand your goals; participation does not guarantee employment or commissioned work.

By the end of the fellowship, what would you like to be able to do, develop or contribute? Where might you apply what you learn? A few sentences are enough.

What skills, experience or perspectives could you contribute to a project team? You may draw on your work, community involvement or lived experience. A few sentences are enough.

4. Supporting information and participation

Supporting material

Supporting material is optional. You can share a LinkedIn or professional profile, CV, portfolio, project, publication or work sample if it helps us understand your experience. You can submit without a link or upload.

If you have a LinkedIn profile, paste its public address.

Check that a reviewer can open this link without requesting access.

One PDF, up to 5 MB. You may combine work samples into one PDF. Files are held privately for the authorised reviewer. Leave out identity documents and confidential material.

You may mention your timezone, work commitments or scheduling constraints. Share only what is useful for planning. Up to 600 characters.

We use your answers to assess fit and manage this cohort, storing them in Airtable and notifying the review team. Email hello@refuture.africa to request a correction or withdraw. Read our privacy notice. Please avoid confidential or sensitive material.

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