African Union Media Fellowship Programme

The African Union Media Fellowship Programme for 2023-2024 is inviting African media professionals passionate about promoting development-focused stories using emerging technologies in various media forms.

To ensure Africa is at the forefront of defining and telling its own narrative to African and global audiences, the Information and Communication Directorate (ICD) of the African Union (AU) launched the AU Media Fellowship as a transformative platform to shape the African story and create a more accurate representation of Africa’s progress and opportunities using the using emerging digital technologies as a key tool for communication and engagement that will enable the continent to achieve the vision and aspirations of Africa’s Agenda 2063.

The AU Media Fellowship project is supported by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Objectives of the AU Media Fellowship Programme

• Skill Development: The AU Media Fellowship (AUMF) provides a structured environment for enhancing skills and knowledge in analysis, content creation, and storytelling through training, mentorship, and hands-on experiences, enabling participants to sharpen their journalistic storytelling abilities, learn new techniques, and gain expertise in utilizing emerging technologies and digital media platforms
• Networking & Collaboration: The AU Media Fellowship (AUMF) provides a platform to connect and collaborate with like-minded industry professionals and experts, content creators, government, policymakers, and key industry players
• Access to Resources: The AU Media Fellowship (AUMF) provides access to technical resources, tools, and equipment, including grants, state-of-the-art technology, research materials, and platforms for publishing or broadcasting of work developed during the course of the programme.

Thematic Tracks
In line with Agenda 2063 goals and aspirations, this year’s media fellowship will focus on the following thematic tracks

• Gender and Women Empowerment – Promoting efforts towards the Economic and Financial Inclusion of African Women; the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol), and the AU Constitutive Act.
• Advancing Trade, Investment, and Industrialisation – Promoting efforts towards Africa’s Economic integration. This is in line with the 2023 AU theme of the year – Acceleration of AfCFTA Implementation.
• Agricultural development, Environmental Protection, and Climate action – Advancing agriculture and agri-business through sustainable environment management for a sustainable and resilient future.
• Culture and Creative Industries & Sports Development: Africa, through Agenda 2063, envisions vibrant cultural expressions, thriving creative industries, and enhanced sports infrastructure for sustainable development.
• Governance & Democracy – Africa is actively promoting good governance through transparency, accountability, rule of law, and strengthening democratic institutions for inclusive and sustainable development.
• Transforming Africa through Digital Innovation – Africa’s Digital Transformation Strategy – Positioning Africa for the 4th Industrial Revolution (Focus on Cybersecurity and Personal Data Protection), Digital Inclusion, and other data policy frameworks.
• Regional Integration and Economic Cooperation – Advancing a unified Africa through free movement, fostering economic collaboration and sustainable development for shared prosperity.

Eligibility Criteria

• All applicants must be African Citizens.
• The fellowship is open to media professionals, journalists, and thematic content creators (bloggers, vloggers, podcasters, etc.).
• The minimum age is 25; there is no maximum age limit.
• All applicants must have a minimum of 6 years of work experience.
• All applicants should have demonstrated talent and be actively involved in innovative media with a demonstrable impact-driven track record.
• All applicants must speak, read and write fluently in any of the 6 AU languages in order to fully participate in and benefit from the fellowship.
• All applicants of the AU Media Fellowship must be experienced professionals the working in media industry or in a related field including content creation.
• For applicants who are journalists, they must be affiliated with a media organization or if working as a freelance journalist must be accredited by the national governing authority.
• However, all applicants must provide a reference letter or endorsement from a senior editor/ or project manager, or professional in the same industry.
• With their application, the applicants confirm their willingness to report on African Union events and themes, as well as their availability to be interviewed about the fellowship by internal and international partners.
• All applicants must confirm their willingness to participate in events and workshops for the duration of the fellowship.
• The applicant who is already undertaking any other fellowship will not be eligible to apply for this fellowship.
• Applicants must meet all criteria for eligibility for international travel from their originating country, including but not limited to:
  – Having a valid passport at least until December 2025.
  – Having the necessary personal documentation required for visa applications.

Learn more here to apply.