The Je m'engage pour l'Afrique concept, which promotes innovation and sustainability, is looking for projects focusing on the development of intermediate cities as part of the second edition of its Residence. The call for applications is open until 29 March.
The Je m’engage pour l’Afrique (JMA) Residence is back. For its second edition in 2024, the concept, considered as a citizens’ project factory, is putting the spotlight on the “Metamorphoses of intermediate cities” on the continent. It is an educational programme that aims to provide innovative and practical solutions to urban development policies.
The call for applications, which closes on 29 March, is aimed primarily at talented young people (aged 20-35) from Europe, Africa and the Mediterranean whose projects focus on decentralised cooperation, ecology and the environment, financing and new technologies. Intermediate cities are home to up to 15% of Africa’s population, and this figure is set to rise with the demographic explosion forecast between now and 2040, according to the African Development Bank (AfDB). This implies a growing need for basic services (access to water, education, health) and therefore urgent solutions.
The 30 “residents” who will be selected “will work for four months with the support of experts and researchers to address the issues, opportunities and transformations within these cities. The aim is to enable them to develop their citizen projects, to propose tangible solutions for the users of their cities and to submit their recommendations to public decision-makers”, says JMA, launched in 2021 by civic entrepreneurs Ileana Santos and Amina Zakhnouf.
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The other highlight of the JMA Residency will be from 13 to 15 June 2024, when the winners will have face-to-face meetings with international entrepreneurs and public and private investors who will come to Marseilles, in the south of France. The 2023 cohort benefited from exchange and networking sessions with Yawa Kouigan, Togo’s Minister of Communication and Media, Sarah El Haïry, France’s former Secretary of State for Biodiversity, and Phillippe Zaouati, CEO of the asset management company Mirova, which has made a name for itself in recent years by financing sustainable projects (photovoltaic power stations, etc.).
For more information on JMA’s call for applications, click here.
Benoit-Ivan Wansi
