Deadline: September 15, 2025
Applications are open for the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) Fellowship 2025. The AFC Fellowship is both a leadership development programme and a place for dialogue and exchange between leaders of the rising generation across the global South and North. The focus is our shared climate challenge and other key global issues. It will strengthen the capacity of a cohort of dynamic emerging leaders who, as they progress in their careers, will build bridges between the global North and South and find new ways to address the climate crisis.
The AFC Fellowship is a collaboration between Common Purpose and Africa Finance Corporation (AFC). This is the third year of the AFC fellowship and builds on the success of the previous two years. To date over 90 Fellows from around the world have taken part in the Fellowship.
Fellowship Details
To join the AFC Fellowship, the first step is to be accepted onto the Climate Challenge Leadership Programme. Successful applicants will join a cohort of 40 people from different backgrounds and sectors and from around the world. The Climate Challenge Leadership Programme comprises two key elements:
- Leading Beyond Authority: You will be introduced to the Common Purpose thought leadership of ‘Leading Beyond Authority’ – the ability to cross boundaries and deliver results outside of your direct circle of control. Essential to tackling any complex challenge.
- Climate Challenge: You will address the challenge “How can the world reform carbon markets to incentivize the preservation and expansion of forests, grasslands, peatlands, and mangroves in Africa and across the global South in the interest of achieving global net zero.” Through the Common Purpose ‘Innoventure’ process, based on design thinking principles, you will explore the challenge in a creative and dynamic way. The final stage of this process will be a presentation by you, to a panel of senior leaders, on your ideas to meet the challenge.
- The Fellows community: Once you have successfully completed the programme you will become a Fellow and can connect and work with Fellows from your own year, and from previous cohorts through Fellows gatherings.
Benefits
Participants will:
- Enhance their ability to Lead Beyond Authority equipping them to work across boundaries; a pre-requisite to solving any complex problem
- Grow new networks by connecting with diverse participants, contributors and speakers from the global North and South who they would otherwise never meet
- Stretch their analytical and creative skills by exposing them to a new approach to innovation
- Develop their influencing skills by putting them in front of senior decision-makers to present their findings
- Generate new ideas and approaches to meet this hugely important challenge
Eligibility
Successful applicants will be from different sectors, backgrounds, countries, and communities across Africa, the wider global South, and the global North.
They will be:
- Emerging leaders (typically with over 5 years professional experience)
- Highly motivated individuals who show commitment to bringing about positive change, and who can demonstrate their leadership potentials and/or capability
- Interested in climate issues and in addressing the imbalance between the global North and South
Application
The deadline for applicants is midnight BST on Sunday, 21 September 2025
For more information, visit AFC Fellowship.
