In Nairobi, the ONE Campaign has just unveiled ONE Academy, a pan-African learning and action platform with an explicit ambition: to equip African youth with the practical skills, networks, and opportunities needed to influence public decisions. This launch comes at a time when the gap between the civic momentum of young Africans and their ability to translate it into concrete influence remains a pressing concern.
A concerning diagnosis, a structured response
The starting point of the initiative is empirical. According to a survey conducted by the ONE Campaign in 2026 across six African countries, nearly 90% of young people surveyed say they feel comfortable speaking out on issues that concern them. Yet barely 53% of them have ever participated in an advocacy activity. This paradox reveals less a lack of willingness than an absence of frameworks, tools, and spaces to transform activist energy into structured action.
This is precisely the gap that ONE Academy intends to fill. The platform does not simply impart theoretical knowledge about advocacy. It is designed to move its members along a continuum: from learning to practice, from practice to action, and from action to influence. This progression sets the initiative apart from conventional awareness programs that are often limited to training without any operational follow-through.
From learning to action: the platform’s architecture
ONE Academy targets young Africans aged 18 to 35. It will offer training focused on practical advocacy skills — understanding a public policy issue, identifying decision-making centers, building a compelling argument, mobilizing peers — rather than general awareness alone. The platform is also conceived as a community space, where members can learn from one another, build networks, and collaborate on shared causes.
The launch initially focuses on Kenya and Sénégal, two countries with active civil ecosystems and well-established traditions of civic mobilization. The first training offered, called “Foundational Learning Advocacy,” focuses on education issues: it aims to prepare young advocates to champion the policies, investments, and implementation mechanisms needed to address this continental challenge. As the platform grows, notably through partnerships, new courses and advocacy opportunities are expected to emerge, extending the initiative’s reach across the entire continent.
The missing infrastructure of African activism
The speech by Serah Makka, Executive Director for Africa at the ONE Campaign, captures the project’s philosophy well: “African youth don’t lack ideas, ambition, or the desire to shape the future. What is often missing is the infrastructure that allows energy, passion, and ideas to be transformed into sustained advocacy and real influence.” This framing is telling: it shifts the problem away from a deficit of individual skills toward a lack of collective support structures.
Ambassador Mark Green, President of the ONE Campaign, echoes this view by emphasizing sustainability as a central criterion: “Stronger systems matter, better policies matter, and increased investments matter, but progress only lasts when there are people with the knowledge, confidence, and perseverance to carry it forward.” The platform thus positions itself as a long-term investment in the human capital of African advocacy, rather than a one-off response to a moment of political ferment.
The ONE Campaign: a seasoned player in continental advocacy
This launch is part of the trajectory of an organization whose legitimacy on the continent is firmly established. Founded in 2004, the ONE Campaign is a nonpartisan global organization that advocates for the investments needed to create economic opportunities and improve living conditions in Africa. According to its own data, it has helped mobilize more than one trillion dollars in new investments since its founding.
With this positioning, ONE is well placed to act as an intermediary between African youth eager to act and the decision-making spheres — governments, multilateral institutions, donors — that often remain impervious to non-institutional voices. ONE Academy represents, in this sense, an attempt to democratize access to effective advocacy, a discipline long reserved for restricted circles of experts or seasoned professionals.
A bet on youth as a transformative force
The challenge remains considerable. Translating a digital platform into an active community of change agents requires time, resources, and the capacity to sustain engagement beyond the first cohorts. The initial focus on two countries — Kenya and Sénégal — is a cautious strategy that will allow the model to be refined before scaling it up. The challenge will then be to adapt the content to the linguistic, institutional, and political diversity of a continent that cannot be reduced to a few pilot contexts.
Yet the momentum is there. In a context where African civic movements — from the fight against corruption to the defense of climate rights — are gaining visibility, ONE Academy arrives with a clear proposition: to give thousands of young people the tools to transform their indignation or aspiration into a lasting capacity for influence. This may be one of the most strategic investments that can be made for the future of the continent.
Frequently asked questions
What is ONE Academy and who is it for?
ONE Academy is a pan-African learning and action platform launched by the ONE Campaign. It targets young Africans aged 18 to 35 and aims to provide them with practical advocacy skills, professional networks, and concrete opportunities to influence public policies at the local, national, and continental level.
Why did the ONE Campaign create this platform now?
A survey conducted by the ONE Campaign in 2026 across six African countries highlighted a significant paradox: while nearly 90% of young people surveyed say they are ready to speak out on issues that concern them, only 53% have ever participated in an advocacy activity. This finding revealed a need for structured infrastructure to transform civic momentum into real influence.
In which countries is ONE Academy available at launch?
The platform is launching first in Kenya and Sénégal, with a first course centered on the challenges of foundational education (Foundational Learning Advocacy). The ambition is to progressively expand the platform to other African countries through partnerships and new courses.
What sets ONE Academy apart from other existing civic training programs?
Unlike many awareness programs that stop at theoretical training, ONE Academy is designed to accompany its members throughout a journey: from learning to practice, from practice to action, and from action to influence. It emphasizes operational skills — identifying decision-makers, building a case, mobilizing peers — and the building of a community of advocacy practitioners.
