Africa Energy Essay Contest for All Interested African Young Professionals

Nigeria Energy Forum

Contest(s) Offered: Ideas (sustainable energy)
Contest Level: Essay-writing
Provider: Nigeria Energy Forum
Country to Write in: Africa/Nigeria

Programme Description
The Nigeria Energy Forum (NEF) is delighted to invite young professionals to make submissions to the second edition of its contest, the 2017 Africa Energy Essay Contest. It is supported by the NEF2017 corporate sponsors.

The Africa Energy Ideas Competition is for early-stage business ideas. Across Africa, the key energy challenge is how to electrify millions of households, remote communities and small-scale entrepreneurs as quickly as possible. This competition engages young professionals from Africa to develop innovative ideas with a focus on solutions that are sustainable, affordable and commercially viable to urgently tackle the African energy challenge.

The essay contest will take the form of a letter written to the UN Secretary General, highlighting the challenges and opportunities for sustainable energy development in Africa. The contest follows the UN’s declaration of the decade 2014-2024 as the ‘Decade of Sustainable Energy for All’.

Eligibility
The contest is open to all young professionals with an interest in the area of sustainable energy. Young professionals between the ages of 18 and 35 years from Africa are invited to participate in the competition.

Applications may be submitted by individuals or a team of up to three people. Teams may be formed across different schools, institutions, companies, countries etc. Individuals or teams may submit multiple applications.

Selection Process:
All eligible entries will be reviewed by an international expert panel. Entries are assessed based on the following attributes in solving Africa’s energy challenge: I). Significance, ii). Originality and creativity, iii). Feasibility, and iv). Clarity.

Eligible groups
Citizens of African countries may participate

Participating Institutions
Any organization is free to join

Fields of study
2017 Essay theme:
‘Sustainable Energy for Economic Development’.

PREVIOUS YEARS' THEMES
2016 Essay Topic:
“How can Africa achieve sustainable and affordable supply of energy for all by 2030?”

Sponsorship duration
The Forum will hold on July 4-5, 2017 at the LCCI Conference; Exhibition Centre, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria

Scholarship benefits
The Nigeria Energy Forum 2017 (NEF2017) is a capacity building, training, and development programme for policy makers, business leaders, energy users, professional engineers, industry experts and academics in the energy sector of Nigeria and other African countries.

Prizes and Recognition:
Winners of the competition get the opportunity to:

• Present their ideas at the 2017 Nigeria Energy Forum, in Lagos, Nigeria.
• Benefit from unique networking opportunities with other young leaders as well as some of the most senior decision-makers in government, international development, academia and the private sector.
• Attend a range of business development workshops, receive support from a dedicated start-up incubator and a cash prize of up to $1,000.

Method of Application
Your submission must not exceed 1-side of an A4 page and should include the following: Project Title, Authors, Short abstract (50 words), Problem Statement (50 words), Your solution (250 words), Expected impact (50 words), Are there similar examples? (50 words), and Challenges (50 words). The finalists and winners will be selected by a panel of academics and experienced development professionals from public and private sector institutions.

Submissions must be in Microsoft Word or PDF format by email to info@thenef.org. The subject line of the email should follow the format: [Country] Title of the Project. Submissions that exceed the word count may be disqualified. Shortlisted submissions would be invited to participate in the final round with a full proposal and short 2-minute video.

DEADLINES:
Deadline for proposal submission is May 20, 2017. Announcement of submissions selected for the final round will be made on June 10, 2017. Deadline for final submissions is on June 20, 2017.

PLEASE NOTE:
Winners will be announced via the forum website on July 4, 2017.

The Nigeria Energy Forum 2017 (NEF2017) is organised by a team of young Nigerians who are emerging and leading research stars in Europe, in collaboration with the Nigerian Institution of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (NIEEE). The first edition of the Nigeria Energy Forum was held on the 12th and 13th of April, 2016 at the Oriental Hotel in Lagos, Nigeria, with theme ‘Sustainable Energy Forum All Nigerians – Grand Challenges; Big Opportunities’.

Application Deadline: 20 June 2017
Open to International Applicants: Yes

More Scholarship Information and Application

Related: List of Contests for International Students