Africa-Europe Youth Academy (AEYA) launches its Call for Projects to support "Spaces for Youth" across 18 African countries

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The Africa-Europe Youth Academy (AEYA), funded by the European Union under the Global Gateway Africa-Europe Investment Package and implemented by Expertise France in consortium with the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), is pleased to announce the launch of its Call for Projects – Spaces for Youth.

This call is open to eligible Youth organisations in 18 countries across West, Central, East and Southern Africa: Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Benin, Togo, Guinea, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ghana, Rwanda, Mauritania, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Uganda, and Ethiopia.

Through this mechanism, the programme combines:

• Direct grants: funding Youth organisations to create, strengthen or expand high-impact Spaces for Youth that provide safe, inclusive and empowering environments for leadership, innovation and civic engagement.
• Capacity-building: delivered by Campus AFD, to strengthen governance, financial management and organisational sustainability.
• Tailored training: provided by Ghiyada Africa and The Youth Café, including tailored coaching and monitoring & evaluation support.
• Regional networking: fostering collaboration and peer learning among Youth organisations across Africa, while connecting them to European institutions and global innovation ecosystems.

Through this initiative, AEYA seeks to strengthen Youth leadership across Sub-Saharan Africa while fostering stronger links between Africa and Europe.

Objectives of the Call

This call aims to identify, select, and support Youth organisations implementing “Spaces for Youth” projects benefiting young people aged 18-30 across the 18 countries.

"Spaces for Youth" are initiatives designed by and for young people that enable them to develop their leadership potential, express their voices and access tailored support services.

To be eligible, projects should be either youth-focused (at least 75% of the target beneficiaries are young people aged 18–30 or youth-led (at least 75% of the members of the governance bodies are aged 18–30. Preference may be given to youth-owned organisations, where a young person or a collective of members aged 18-30 owns the organisation.

Spaces for Youth may be physical or hybrid initiatives but must be connected to an accessible physical location, such as a Youth centre, café, library, co-working space, fablab, social innovation lab or community hub. They may be permanent or temporary (for example, event-based initiatives).

They should be apolitical, non-partisan and non-discriminatory, irrespective of religious, denominational or ethnic affiliation.

These spaces are expected to reach at least 50% young women and 25% youth in situations of vulnerability, including those living in rural and remote areas.

Selected organisations will benefit from:

Round 1: 

• Grant of €10,000 to create, strengthen or expand a Space for Youth project;
• Capacity-building, coaching and networking opportunities throughout project implementation;

Round 2: 

• Additional funding of up to €40,000 for the highest-impact organisations to further scale their initiatives;
• Diagnostic and tailored technical assistance to support scaling and organisational development based on the findings of the organisational diagnostic.

Overall, 50 Youth organisations (around 2 to 3 per country, indicative) will be selected under Round 1. Following implementation, up to 10 high-performing organisations will be selected for Round 2 and receive additional funding to further scale their initiatives.

Interested organisations are encouraged to consult the appropriate regional application platform to access the Guidelines for Applicants and submit their proposals.

Two application platforms

To ensure proximity support throughout the selection and implementation process, applications are managed by AEYA's intermediary partners.

To access all the information and application platforms:

• West Africa (Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Mauritania, Senegal and Togo): https://inscaeya.ghiyadaafrica.org/
• Central, Eastern and Southern Africa (Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia): https://www.theyouthcafe.com/africa-europe-youth-academy#

West Africa 

Eligible organisations from Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Mauritania, Senegal and Togo are invited to submit their applications through Ghiyada Africa.

East, Central and Southern Africa

Eligible organisations from Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia are invited to submit their applications through The Youth Café.

Applications are open until 7 August 2026. Detailed eligibility criteria, application guidelines and supporting documents are available on the respective application platforms of each intermediary organisation.

AEYA looks forward to supporting youth organisations across Africa in creating safe, inclusive and empowering Spaces for Youth that unlock young people's leadership potential and contribute to lasting positive change.