LEAP Africa in partnership with Union Bank has announced the call for applications for the 2020/ 2021 cohort of the Social Innovators Programme (SIP), a one-year fellowship for young West African changemakers between 18-35 years. Over the years, through the SIP, LEAP Africa and Union Bank have partnered to strengthen and advance youth-led change initiatives and social entrepreneurship in Nigeria with the aim of enhancing the scale and sustainability of these ventures.

The Fellowship seeks to attract young West Africans with innovative ideas capable of transforming local communities on different scales with high socio-economic impact and in diverse focus areas such as Youth empowerment, Law, Human Rights, Health, Environment, Education and Agriculture, Science and Technology, and more. 

Following a shortlisting process, 30 candidates will be selected into the programme. These shortlisted participants will be inducted into the Fellowship at the 2020 SIP Awards, scheduled for October, 2020. The SIP is a platform to equip, support and showcase social innovators and entrepreneurs, enabling them to build and sustain their solutions and enterprises towards national and system level change. They will be entitled to immense benefits including access to mentorship, funding, access to globally valuable networks and partnerships.

Eligibility
Young women and men between 18 and 35 years, whose ideas and initiatives offer effective solutions to challenges in local communities across West Africa.
 Applicants must be Initiators/ Co-founders of a socially focused venture/enterprise/ Foundation, located in West Africa.
Applicants must have been involved in operating their ventures/ enterprise beyond 12 months prior to the time of this application.
Applicants must be available to participate in the Fellowship activities including implementation of appropriate systems to sustain their innovation over the course of the fellowship year.

Women are strongly encouraged to apply

Application portal is open till 11:59pm (WAT) on August 30th, 2020.

To apply, click here