At its 38th Ordinary Session held in February 2025, the African Union adopted as its theme for 2026: “Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems to Achieve the Goals of Agenda 2063 [Assembly/AU/Dec.912(XXXVIII)].” This theme is targeted at the 7th Goal of Agenda 2063: Environmentally Sustainable and Climate Resilient Economies and Communities. The theme as well as an Action Framework was launched at the next Ordinary Session which was held in February 2026.
In line with the AU theme for 2026, the African Space Leadership Institute invites students and young professionals to participate in the fourth edition of the Space for Africa Essay Competition. This edition requires an essay on the theme “Leveraging Space Science and Technology for Water Security and Safe Sanitation in Africa.”
The aim of the competition is to harness the creativity students and young professionals; familiarise them with the African Union; and introduce them to space policy, applications and political economy, with particular focus on Africa.
QUALIFICATIONS
In order to qualify to apply for the competition, you should be a:
> citizen of a Member State of the African Union
> student or a young professional between 18-35 years.
GUIDELINES
> Essay should focus on the theme of the competition.
> No more than 1500 words in length. Written in English.
> Text should be Times New Roman, size 12 and single-spaced.
> Can include no more than 4 relevant pictures. All pictures should have a title or brief description. Credits or sources should be stated.
> Where necessary, essay should contain appropriate references which are accessible online. All references should be inserted within the essay using hypertext words or phrases.
> No prefatory section, footnotes, endnotes nor appendices.
> Only one entry is allowed per applicant.
> Essays that do not follow the guidelines will be disqualified.
> Authors of selected essays will be invited to make virtual presentation of their essays to ascertain originality. Date for presentation will be communicated to selected authors.
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
The entries will be evaluated based on:
> Content: How well does the essay address the theme? Does the author include real life issues and/or examples?
> Structure: Is the essay organized in a logical manner?
> Clarity: Are arguments clear?
> Logic of ideas: Do the arguments and examples support the author’s main idea?
> Potential impact: How do the recommendations and/or solutions address the focus issue? Are the recommendations and/or solutions pragmatic?
PRIZES
> Up to 20 authors of top essays in will receive scholarships to participate in the African Space Policy and Strategy course at ASLI. On successful completion of the course, authors will receive Certificates.
> Best two participants in the course will receive sponsorship to participate in the 10th Africa Space Generation Workshop (AF-SGW). Sponsored participants are expected to present their works at the workshop and participate in panel discussions.
> Best essays will be published on physical and virtual platforms. Essays are expected to be published before the workshop.
SUBMISSION
> Essay (in MS word format) and CV can be uploaded here: https://bit.ly/SpaceforAfrica4
> Essay should contain your surname, name and title.
> File name should be Surname_Name_SpaceforAfrica4.
> Deadline for submission of essays is 10th May 2026, 11:59pm GMT.
Authors of top essays will be publicly announced and winners will be directly contacted. Due to the expected large number of entries, only successful authors will be contacted.
ASLI reserves the right to published winning essays on its physical and online platforms. Authors will be given due credits.
Previous winners of the competition are not eligible to participate in this edition.
For further inquiries, kindly send an email to info@aslispace.org. (Essays should not be sent to this email. They should be uploaded using the link above.)