Build Young Social Entrepreneurs Across Africa

Africa Matters Ambassadors Program GlobalGiving November 2023 Report

The year-end festivities bring with them the essence of reflection and vision for the road travelled and the journey ahead. The 2023-24 Africa Matters Ambassadors Program (AMAP) program cycle has been challenging yet rewarding and has seen our participants settle in their stride as they’ve worked to define what being an African change-maker means to them. 

As a program, we, too, are in a space of redevelopment, refinement and revitalisation as we unpack our approach to youth development in Africa and how local innovation for transformative change can be used not as a tool but as a seed from which unending possibilities of a prosperous continent can grow and take shape. 

In our final GlobalGiving report for 2023, we share exciting updates on the program and areas of development and preparation for the coming year. 

AMAP Updates (August - November 2023)

• Ambassador Updates

 Our 2023-24 AMAP cohort remains strong and actively engaged in programmatic activities, and we applaud their continued dedication to being stellar Ambassadors of their countries, communities, and African youth at large. To date, we have 16 Ambassadors active within the program, with the country distribution of Ambassadors as follows: Botswana (1), Ghana (2), Kenya (3), Nigeria (3), Sierra Leone (2), South Africa (2), Uganda (2) and Zimbabwe (1).

• Our Ambassadors have also been actively engaged with external opportunities, citing AMAP as a reason for pushing themselves to seek out new personal and professional development pastures. 
• Winnie, an Ambassador from Uganda, was selected as a participant in the Global Changemakers Africa Youth Summit held in South Africa between 17 - 20 October 2023. See here how we met with Winnie as facilitators during our visit to the summit.
• Mary, an Ambassador from Kenya, participated in the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) held at Kenyatta University, Kenya. See here how she met and connected with a fellow ShE is Empowered Leader at the conference. 

• Module Updates

 We have successfully concluded our capacity development component, with all Ambassadors having attended and worked on assignments for 16 module sessions, with our final module, FrameWork: Monitoring & Evaluation Tools for Measuring Success Pt.2, held on 23 November 2023. One Ambassador, Ogechi Anoka from Nigeria, stated that the session was quite insightful for her as she realised there are different ways to measure the impact of their project, even when working with young children who may express feedback differently from older participants. Our Program modules are designed to provide our participants with not only critical skills in project management and leadership development but also to expose Ambassadors to a wealth of knowledge and understanding of social dynamics in African society in areas of African identity, feminisms and advocacy to shape their experience and capacities as young African change-makers holistically. 

Our program team has been debriefing on wins and successes of this year’s capacity development component while strategically analysing the gaps and areas for further improvement for its next iteration. This reflective process will continue over the next few months as we refine this new curriculum content design offered to this year’s cohort and seek out innovative approaches to providing unique and competitive training materials to each Ambassador during their learning journey.  

• AMI Mentorship Program Updates

 Our AMI Mentorship component, which sees program participants paired with industry leaders to bolster their personal and professional capabilities, has been going from strength to strength in the few short months it’s been active. All paired Ambassadors have been meeting and engaging with their mentor regularly, according to a meeting schedule that both parties agreed to in their agreement forms. This has not been without challenges, ranging from technical issues in completing forms to getting pairs to discuss the terms of their relationship promptly. We have noted issues in mentor recruitment, onboarding procedures, and support and monitoring structures that we plan to enhance and refine for our next program cycle.

Additionally, we hosted an AMI Mentor Meet & Greet session on 30 August 2023to formally welcome them into the mentorship program, provide them with a complete understanding of the flagship & mentorship programs and provide them with a platform to share their expectations of the program, identify areas of support that they would require during their tenure with us and network with fellow mentors in the cohort. We had a successful turnout, with most mentors in attendance and actively engaged throughout the session.

To date, we have had to dissolve two (2) mentorship relationships with Ambassadors due to incompatibility in the matching process. These Ambassadors have remained unpaired within the program for many reasons, and we hope to connect them to industry professionals they could engage with outside of the program. This ensures they receive the benefits of the mentorship program. One (1) other mentor withdrew from the program on 3 November 2023, citing unforeseen circumstances impeding their availability. A new mentor will be paired with the mentee to continue their mentorship efficiently.

The AMI 2023-24 Mentorship Program is set to conclude around January - February 2024, with the desired aim being that mentorship pairs continue their mentorship relationship and find new ways to engage beyond the program.

• AMAP Community Engagement Project (CEPs) Updates

 The AMAP Community Engagement Project (CEP) component has allowed Ambassadors to influence the narrative of change on the continent by implementing community-based projects to tackle social issues and inspire locally-led growth and socio-economic development within their communities. 

Through rigorous planning, engaging one-on-one consultations with AMAP team members, and project management training and resources (as offered through our capacity development component), our Ambassadors are currently in the throes of project implementation or are just starting to implement their projects. 

Focus areas observed in this year’s collection of Community Engagement Projects include sexual and reproductive health rights, women’s rights, sustainable development/climate change/environmental conservation, skills development in areas of STEM, and local trade for entrepreneurship, health and well-being, civic education and governance, substance abuse awareness, disability advocacy, and higher education opportunities for young displaced persons. 

Examples of our 2023 projects include:

• A reusable menstrual pad project that aims to provide affordable menstrual pads to 100 to 150 girls and women in the Ibanda district, Uganda, together with creating income-generating opportunities for young girls by training and employing them within the production of reusable menstrual pads, allowing participants to establish businesses and break the cycle of poverty linked to menstrual health challenges.
• A youth empowerment and participation in democracy project that provides youth with training in digital and financial literacy and entrepreneurship, paired with a regional youth conference to produce a youth statement addressing challenges hindering youth participation in decision-making processes in Sierra Leone. The project aims to result in the registration of a youth-focused NPO in Sierra Leone, which offers programs and activities in youth empowerment and innovation for the increased capacity of young people to drive civic engagement in governance.
• A health education project targeting public primary schools in Ijebu Ode, Nigeria, by providing health training, seminars and workshops for health club staff and pupils, establishing health clubs in public primary schools and supplying First Aid Kits, Health charts, and other educational materials to support learning. The initiative aims to enlighten children and teachers with accurate information to reshape their attitudes toward health practices, bridge the trust gap between the community and healthcare systems, and emphasise the importance of regular health check-ups.

We have supported participants in the CEP component by increasing the frequency of one-on-one consultations to provide Ambassadors with greater individualised attention to project planning. We also conducted a CEP Workshop on 11 October 2023, in collaboration with the Africa Matters ShE is Empowered Program, where we provided participants across both programs with guidance around preparations for project implementation. We are looking towards hosting a second CEP workshop in December 2023 to assist with M&E needs, such as data collection procedures, report writing and media reporting for projects.

• AMAP Alumni Updates

 Two of our 2022-23 Alumni have made significant progress in their leadership journeys, building on their Community Engagement Projects post-program work and continuing to engage with their communities in areas of advocacy, awareness-raising and skills development. 

• Adama Borway-Finda, an AMAP Alumni from Sierra Leone, addresses economic disparities faced by women and girls in rural communities through the work of her start-up ‘She-Empowerment League Sierra Leone’. She has continued to provide young girls and women with diverse livelihood training in areas such as gara (cloth) tie-dying, weaving, tailoring and life skills, together with start-up kits and ongoing support for sustainable growth, leadership engagement and financial empowerment to combat cycles of poverty, issues of the gender pay and gender-based violence. Click here to see more of her work.
• Musa Kondeh, an AMAP Alumni from Sierra Leone, registered his AMAP CEP as ‘LEAD Sierra Leone’, a community-based organisation focused on empowering young people as positive change agents.  Under LEAD Sierra Leone, he has conducted awareness-raising workshops and community mobilisation activities around menstrual health and hygiene, community engagement and response to gender-based violence, and climate change awareness programs for youth. Click here to see more of his work.

We are proud of our alumni for reaching great heights in their endeavours and continuing to push forward the mission and vision of the program and the Africa Matters Initiative.

Additional Updates

• AMAP GlobalGiving September Little by Little Fundraising Campaign

 We participated in the GlobalGiving September Little by Little Campaign between 18 - 22 September 2023, where we conducted several social media engagements and advertisements, including a special Live-a-Thon hosted by the AMI team on 21 September. AMI team members rallied together to play games and engage with the AMI community on Instagram Live for 6 hours, promoting AMAP and encouraging our audience to donate via the campaign.

As we continue our fundraising efforts, we seek new and innovative ways to gather support and donations from our supporters and beyond. 

• AMI Merchandise Disbursement

 In November 2023, we successfully packaged and distributed AMI Merchandise Packs for all Ambassadors. Each pack consisted of three (3) AMI t-shirts (one for the Ambassador and a t-shirt for two of their CEP volunteers), an AMI-branded tote bag, and an AMI-branded button. Ambassadors were excited and thrilled to receive their merchandise, and we hope to see Ambassadors share the Africa Matters Initiative brand with everyone they meet and wherever they go through our merchandise!

See our 2023-24 AMAP Ambassadors, Mary from Kenya (to whom AMI team members personally delivered her merchandise pack while visiting the country), Joseph from Ghana and Ogechi from Nigeria, documenting themselves receiving their merchandise and/or sharing testimonies on their journey as Ambassadors in the links attached. 

You can receive your very own AMI merchandise by visiting our website and purchasing our products here. Note that 50% of proceeds from merchandise sales go towards the upkeep of flagship programs, directly impacting AMAP Ambassadors and their ongoing participation within the program.

• 2024-25 AMAP Recruitment Process

 We officially commenced with our 2024-25 AMAP Recruitment Cycle on 26 October 2023, where we opened applications for our next AMAP cohort to hopeful applicants between the ages of 18 and 29 and nationals of Ghana, Cameroon, Rwanda, Angola, Malawi, Tanzania, Namibia, Tunisia, Zambia and Sierra Leone. 

• We have actively engaged with our audience and all prospective applicants to gather support for the application season. Before opening applications, we conducted a country search via our social media platforms, encouraging our audience to contribute to selecting eligible countries for the 2024-25 cohort. During the application period, we also hosted two online events in collaboration with the Africa Matters ShE is Empowered Program, an AMAP/ShE Program and Application Information Session (hosted by program leads via Zoom & Facebook Live) on 15 November, and an Instagram Live Session on How to Become an AMAP Ambassador Successfully and ShE Leader (hosted by ShE Assistant and two program Alumni) on 22 November. 
• We have also opened up a 2024 Program Support process, inviting all AMI Alumni, Mentors and External Stakeholders to be directly involved in the recruitment process as an Application Reviewer or Applicant Interviewer. 

Our 2024-25 AMAP Applications close on December 3, 2023, so if you or anyone you know would be interested and eligible to become a 2024-25 AMAP Ambassador, click here to access this opportunity.

Upcoming activities

 Upcoming activities for our program include:

• Oversee and coordinate activities under the AMI Mentorship Program and Community Engagement Project component
• Coordinate the 2024-25 AMAP Recruitment Process, which includes concluding our application submission process on December 3, 2023, and reviewing applications throughout December to prepare for candidate interviews in January 2024.

Closing Remarks

Our program could not successfully provide African youth with a means to affect change where they are and grow into transformative leaders if it were not for the supporters of AMI. Through your contributions and unwavering support, we exit 2023 with Ambassadors equipped with skills and training to conduct community-led projects and confidently seek opportunities for growth and development for themselves and their communities. As an organisation that recognises the importance of unity and collective action for change, Africa Matters Initiative will continue to connect African youth through values of servitude, innovation and Ubuntu*.

You can contribute to the prosperity of African youth by donating to our program via GlobalGiving or contacting us for potential partnership and sponsorship opportunities. Your support will assist us in 

• providing Ambassadors with seed funding to conduct their community engagement projects, 
• supporting the development and enhancement of program components such as our modules or our mentorship program 

As the Africa Matters team, we thank GlobalGiving for your unwavering commitment to supporting community-led change through your platform. May the year ahead bring abundance to the platform and all the organisations registered.

If you have any questions or suggestions or would like to connect with us, please feel free to contact us at amap@africamattersinitiative.com

And, as always, We are the ones we’ve been waiting for!

Yours in African youth development, 

The Africa Matters Ambassadors Program Team

*Ubuntu is a traditional African concept originating from the Zulu and Xhosa languages and roughly translated as “humanity towards others” and “the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity.”