Africa NextGen Economist Prize

Jeune Afrique and The Africa Report are launching the Africa NextGen Economist Prize, a new award recognizing the best young African economist under the age of 40. Created in partnership with the African Development Bank, this initiative aims to identify and promote a new generation of African economists whose work makes a tangible contribution to public debate and to the shaping of the continent’s economic policies.

The prize will be awarded at the Africa CEO Forum, to be held in Kigali on 14–15 May 2026. The winner will receive a €10,000 cash prize, as well as an interview in Jeune Afrique and The Africa Report.

Through this initiative, Jeune Afrique Media Group seeks to highlight rigorous African economic research grounded in the realities of the continent and to promote its dissemination among public decision-makers, the private sector, the media, and the general public. The prize also aims to encourage young researchers to pursue careers in economics and to strengthen the role of Jeune Afrique and The Africa Report as leading media references on African economic issues.

The prize is open to economists who are nationals of an African country, aged 40 or under at the date of the award ceremony, hold a PhD, and whose work focuses primarily on African economies or public policies on the continent. Applications must be submitted no later than 15 February.

Candidates will be shortlisted based on their application files, with the support of the Foundation for Studies and Research on International Development (Ferdi), in collaboration with the editorial teams of Jeune Afrique and The Africa Report. The shortlisted candidates will then be submitted to the jury for final selection.

The jury is composed of Anthony Simpasa, Director of the Macroeconomic Policy, Forecasting and Research Department at the African Development Bank; Vera Songwe, Chair of the Liquidity and Sustainability Facility; Daouda Sembène, Director of Africatalyst; Mahmoud Mohieldin, Egyptian economist and United Nations Special Envoy on Financing the Sustainable Development Goals; Grieve Chelwa, Director at The Africa Institute; Karim El Aynaoui, Executive President of the Policy Center for the New South; and Alban Ahouré, Professor at Félix Houphouët-Boigny University and Senior Fellow at Ferdi.

According to Thaïs Brouck, journalist at Jeune Afrique in charge of macroeconomics and the initiator of the prize: “Africa is full of talented young economists, yet their work remains insufficiently visible.

As a result, African economic thinking and public policies are still often inspired by exogenous models that are sometimes poorly suited to local realities. The Africa NextGen Economist Prize will help showcase African research, inspire new vocations, and create a community of economists capable of imagining local solutions to the continent’s challenges.”

Candidates must send their application to africanextgen.economistprize@jeuneafrique.com by 15 February. The application must include a detailed CV, the three most representative publications of the candidate’s work, and a one-page executive summary highlighting the relevance, originality, and applicability of their contributions in Africa.