Acumen West Africa Fellowship 2025 for Social Entrepreneurs

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Applications are now open for the 2025 Acumen West Africa Fellowship Programme. Acumen invests in social entrepreneurs across the capital continuum and accompanies them on the journey to create transformational change. At Acumen Academy identify and prepare these leaders with the hard skills required to build scalable solutions to poverty and the harder skills of moral leadership to re-imagine and build a better world.

The West Africa Acumen Fellowship is a transformative program that brings together a cohort of extraordinary individuals with an entrepreneurial mindset and a commitment to solve problems of poverty. We equip them with the tools and community to strengthen their leadership, scale their impact, and create meaningful change in West Africa.

West Africa is at a crossroads, with socio-political issues like conflict, insecurity, corruption, increased inflation, bad governance, and the economic fallout of COVID-19 deepening poverty in the region. Their Fellows are building solutions that redefine Education, Workforce Development, Agriculture, Energy Healthcare, and more. Solutions that cultivate dignity and present the greatest hope for the future of our society and our planet.

Acumen West Africa Fellowship Program Details

About the Fellowship

Their program is grounded in two decades of experience accompanying social entrepreneurs on the journey from seed to scale. The Fellowship provides new leadership frameworks and through a supportive cohort, Fellows pressure test the new skills they’re learning in real time, and build peer relationships that keep them accountable to their values and commitments as they grow and scale their impact.

Curriculum

Polarity Management: Learn to operate in a world of opposing views and to cross lines of difference to mobilize others towards a shared cause or problem.
Good Society Readings: Explore the meaning of a just society and the moral and historical foundation of social change through classic and contemporary texts by thinkers such as Plato, Ursula K. LeGuin, Chimamanda Adichie, Dr. Martin Luther King, and Amartya Sen.
Adaptive Leadership: Learn to understand stakeholders, map their needs, and navigate uncertainty to catalyze change.
Authentic Voice: Learn to tell stories that compel and inspire others to take action in pursuit of a bold idea. Build audience awareness to improve your pitch, talk to investors, form partnerships, and make connections.

Structure

Fellows remain in their jobs and participate in a 6-month hybrid program consisting of virtual sessions, in-person immersives, and self-paced learning.

This is a high-level program overview:

One 3-day virtual Orientation
Two 5-day full-time in-person immersives (8 hours of assignments for each immersive consisting of self-paced learning and group calls)
Four Learning Labs (4 hours each along with assignments)

Eligibility Criteria for Acumen West Africa Fellowship

You are a social entrepreneur or senior decision-maker solving problems of poverty.
You have 5 years of work experience (minimum) and are able to demonstrate commitment towards solving issues of poverty. On average our Fellows have 10-15 years of work experience with 10 years working on problems of poverty.
You have a reliable internet connection and will be fully available to participate throughout the entirety of the program.

Cost

Once you are selected as an Acumen Fellow Candidate, Acumen covers all program-related expenses during the Fellowship. This includes all costs associated with the immersives including lodging and food.