📡 April 2024 Opportunities 📡

Jobs, Fellowships, Prizes, Calls for contributions, Residencies and more

Immaculata Abba

Iyalagha Deborah

, and

Immaculata Projects

Apr 04, 2024

Q2 is here, how are you going to make your desires more clearly known to yourself this quarter?

On our part, after four rounds of this newsletter, we are getting clearer about what it is we are here to offer you, the community of African meaning-makers on the continent and in the diaspora. For one: we know that we move through the sea of opportunities on&offline, not as an industrial fishing net for arts/writing/job opportunities, but rather taking great care to select opportunities that help us appreciate the power and necessity of the arts, humanities and social sciences and that revitalise the way we see Africa’s connection and contribution to itself and the rest of the world.

Currently, we unfortunately have a Nigerian bias because we are based in Nigeria and are most exposed to Nigerian institutions and subject matters. We say ‘unfortunately’ because when we say ‘Africa’ we intend to mean ‘Africa’ and not ‘Nigeria’. Non-Nigerian Africans, please share your opportunities with us, we would love to hear from you.

Lastly, the work for this newsletter (research, writing, editing, graphic design, Instagram paid ad) takes a significant amount of time and labour and we do this as volunteers. We are now looking for ad sponsorships from aligned organisations, where in exchange for money or resources, we give you a spot on the newsletter to promote your programs or products. If you would like to donate instead, use this.

Jobs, Residencies, Fellowships

Head of Centre, Design and Production Coordinator (Textile Studio) - Twaabane Creative Centre, Zambia (April 20)
Twaabane Creative Centre is a creatively oriented vocational training centre in Southern Zambia. Their aim is to promote social and economic development in their community in Simonga through the provision of free, high-quality skills training and access to income-generating opportunities. The long-term goal is for the centre to become self-sustaining through the sale of its products. Ideal candidates are self-motivated and dynamic individuals with integrity and passion.
Newsroom Fellow - Semafor, Global (ongoing)
Semafor is a high-calibre global news platform and they are looking for an early-career journalist to fill a remote, paid entry-level position as a Newsroom fellow. Interested applicants must be available to work U.K. hours.
Research Associate, Archivi.ng, Nigeria (deadline passed, March 27)
Archivi.ng is a non-profit startup making Nigerian history accessible by digitising old documents, mainly focusing on old Nigerian newspapers and magazines. They need a researcher with strong digital research and communication skills. Key responsibilities include generating bibliographies, glossaries and literature reviews; curating information into knowledge resources; collaborating with the UX/UI team to integrate user feedback; and creating case studies that illustrate diverse applications of digitized historical newspapers in research, education, and storytelling.
Research Assistant, Towards an Integrated Colonial Archive project, UK (April 4)
Professor Eddie Bruce-Jones (SOAS) and Professor Tao Leigh Goffe (Hunter College, New York) of the AHRC/NEH-funded project ‘Towards an Integrated Colonial Archive’ are looking for two research assistants to compile information on British colonial indentureship for ten weeks. Candidates should have a master’s degree in the arts, humanities or social sciences and be based in the UK.
The ‘Towards an Integrated Colonial Archive' project aims to provide proof-of-concept for the development of an integrated humanities, law and social science archive. It will create a carefully curated, interactive digital website that integrates material on the indentureship period that would not typically be read or viewed alongside one another--such as maps, statutes, court judgments, land registers, ship logs, indenture contracts, novels, music, studies in linguistics, and oral histories.
Job Openings - CDD West Africa, Abuja (deadline passed, April 1)
The Centre for Democracy and Development was founded in 1997/1999 to be a catalyst and facilitator for analysis and capacity building for sustainable democracy and development in West Africa. They were currently open to applications for the roles of: Director; Head of Programs; Head of Finance; Monitoring and Evaluation Officer and Human Resources Officer.

Young Contemporaries Residency - Rele Arts Foundation, Africa-wide (April 30)
The Young Contemporaries Residency, organised by Rele Art Gallery’s non-profit initiative the Rele Arts Foundation, is an intensive residency and mentorship programme open to early-career artists from all over Africa. The programme is designed to guide and educate emerging artists in order to nurture their talent and improve the landscape of contemporary art in Africa.
Tejumola Olaniyan Creative Writers-in-Residence Fellowship - The Africa Institute, Sharjah, UAE, Global (June 1)
The Africa Institute, an academic research institute located in Sharjah, has opened applications for the third cohort of its Creative Writers-in-Residency Fellowship created in honor of the late Nigerian academic, Professor Tejumola Olaniyan.
The program welcomes novelists, short story writers, playwrights, poets and scriptwriters related to Africa and the African diaspora for a three-month residency program in Sharjah and a grant of 45,000 AED.
Peace, Security and Development fellowships, African Leadership Centre, King’s College London, Africa-wide (April 30 & May 29)
The African Leadership Centre at King’s College London has three sets of fellowships designed to support their vision of generating cutting-edge knowledge in peace, security and development in Africa.
The first is a degree-awarding fellowship in Peace, Security and Development available to young African scholars and includes post-graduate study at King’s on the Global Leadership and Peacebuilding MSc programme.
The second is a degree-awarding fellowship for African women, particularly from conflict-affected contexts, interested in pursuing research, policy and practice careers in the fields of peace, security and development. It includes postgraduate study at King’s on the Global Leadership and Peacebuilding MSc programme.
The third is not degree-awarding and is available to young African Women in the early stages of their careers seeking to deepen their knowledge and experience in the fields of Leadership, Peace, Security and Development. It is a residential programme based at the ALC in Nairobi, Kenya.
Fellowship, Digital Good Network, Global (April 30)
The Digital Good Network is inviting academics and professionals in policy, industry, community and civil society organisations to apply for their 3-6 month fellowship. Fellows will receive up to £20,000 to pursue research activities exploring what a good digital society looks like and addressing any of our Network’s core societal challenges: equity, sustainability, and resilience.
Cultural Heritage Forward - Smithsonian Global, Global (April 10)
In order to promote cultural heritage stewardship, the Smithsonian Institution in collaboration with the U.S. Department of State is launching a program for museum professionals and community-based cultural heritage practitioners. The first cohort is open to applicants from Cameroon, Nigeria, New Zealand, Vietnam, Chile and Peru. The program involves a virtual discussion series; an in-person, experiential learning exchange in Washington D.C.; and a follow-on, hybrid applied learning period.
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art (NMAfA) will serve as host for approximately 8 participants from Nigeria and Cameroon, and is particularly keen on exploring the impact of the Nigerian Civil War. As such, they are particularly interested in local cultural heritage practitioners and museum professionals from Southeastern Nigeria and the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon.

Prizes & Scholarships

Global Black Women’s Non-Fiction Manuscript Prize - Cassava Republic Press, Global (June 30)
The inaugural Global Black Women’s Non-Fiction Manuscript Prize by Cassava Republic Press is still open for submissions. At the heart of this prize lies a deep commitment to amplifying the long tradition of Black women writers as knowledge-makers and critical thinkers. The winner will receive a $20,000 advance and a publishing contract with Cassava Republic Press.
Nature Awards for Mentoring in Science (West Africa) - Nature, Global (May 10)
Nature is a portfolio of academic science journals. Celebrating outstanding support and mentorship in science, the Nature Awards for Mentoring in Science recognise those who support early career researchers in their career development. Focused on a different country or region each year, this year’s award focuses on mentors in West Africa, and invites former mentees to nominate a mentor that has made a significant contribution to their careers.
There are two categories, one for lifetime achievement and the other for mid-career achievement and both awards come with a cash prize of US$10,000.
PhD Scholarship - School of Languages, Cultures, Art History and Music, University of Birmingham, Global (April 30)
Applications are open for a fully funded PhD project titled: ‘WHOSE AFRICA?: Connecting Art and Communities through the University of Birmingham’s African Collection’ to explore how collections of African art might be able to employ new methods and approaches to engage diaspora communities and widen audience participation, including strategies of co-curation, and the use of digital technologies.
Ideally, applicants should hold a MA in a relevant subject. Still, applicants who do not hold an MA may be considered, provided they hold a first-class undergraduate degree or, in exceptional cases, provided they can demonstrate substantial equivalent and relevant experience that has prepared them to undertake their proposed postgraduate study.
The Richard A. Horovitz Fund for Professional Development, USA (April 15)
The Horovitz Fund is dedicated to African artists and scholars in the humanities and social sciences. A one-time award is granted to one or two students for graduate study for a 12-month period. The amount of the award normally ranges from $6,000 to $8,000.
At the time of funding, applicants must be able to demonstrate financial need and be a graduate student, researcher or artist in a program at an accredited U.S. university, cultural, or artistic institution (on an F or J visa).
Jennifer Ward Oppenheimer Research Grant, Africa-wide (May 3)
The JWO research grant was established to support early-career scientists who are conducting impactful research that will provide solutions to some of Africa’s most pressing problems. A grant of $150,000 will be awarded to one successful applicant for a research project or programme (not previously funded) for up to three years.
Applicants must already hold a PhD degree, have strong links to a credible African institution and proposals must demonstrate a strong link to biodiversity and conservation.
The Nigeria Imaginary Cover Art Contest - The Republic, Nigeria (April 5)
The Republic is co-producing a special magazine issue in collaboration with the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA) ahead of Nigeria’s showcase at the 2024 Venice Biennale. They are organising a design contest to find the next The Republic’s cover artist that will portray this significant moment in Nigerian art history. The chosen artist will receive a prize of 1 million naira.

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Call for Contributions

EndSARS Anthology Call for Submission - Brittle Paper, Nigeria (June 30)
Brittle Paper, in collaboration with editor Chibueze Darlington Anuonye, seeks to publish essays and creative non-fiction pieces that speak to and about the EndSARS protest. The theme is “Who Gave the Order: The History of a People’s Movement.” Contributors will be paid $100.
Call for submissions, Random Photo Journal, Africa-wide (deadline passed, April 2)
@Randomphjournal (Twitter)/@randomphotojournal (Instagram) invites fiction and non-fiction submissions exploring the theme 'fruit of labour.' Stories should be between 2,200-2,500 words. The best submission will be awarded a prize of 150,000 Naira.
Pitch - NATIVE Mag, Global (Ongoing)
Focusing on stories about music, communities, and style, NATIVE Mag is an authority on youth culture, lifestyle, and trends on the continent. They are currently looking for “interesting stories that explore emerging communities, the innovative things they’re doing, the processes that guide those changes, and the people at the forefront of these efforts. [They] typically welcome stories like this one on how our usage of social media is forever changing, or this nuanced take on Ghana’s anti-LGBTQ law and how it might affect already vulnerable communities, and this one on how an African town is experiencing a new lease on life thanks to tourism.” Find out how they like their pitches in this guideline document.
Call for pitches - Restful Magazine, Nigeria (Ongoing)
Restful is a magazine of reflections produced by us Studio Styles. We are seeking short essays for our columns ‘Art Heals, Art Sustains’ and ‘Notes on Living’. We offer a modest honorarium of 25,000 Naira per piece for those columns. Share your playlists with us as well for a chance to be featured on our Oroko radio show.
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Grants & Resources

African Women’s Non-fiction Writing Workshop - Cassava Republic Press, Africa-wide (May 31)
Alongside their Global Black Women’s Non-Fiction Prize, Cassava Republic Press has announced a 10-day residential writing workshop in Johannesburg as part of their mission to nurture and and encourage more Black women to write critical, thoughtful and inspiring works of non-fiction by providing them with a sanctuary for their creative expression and intellectual exploration.
You will need to submit a short pitch letter about your ideas for the topic and the first draft of the essay you will be working on at the workshop on the theme of Taboo. Final essays will be published in an anthology by Cassava Republic Press.
Udacity Scholarship - Ire Aderinokun, Nigeria (April 15)
Ire Aderinokun is a front end developer and user interface designer that is passionate about women empowerment. For the sixth year in a row, she has committed to sponsoring a few Nigerian women to complete a Udacity Nanodegree of their choosing. Udacity offers a wide range of tech courses and interested applicants must be Nigerian women seeking to increase their knowledge on an aspect of tech within 6 months.
Courses - Serendipity, United Kingdom (ongoing)
The Serendipity Institute for Black British Art and Heritage is offering an eight-week online course in Black British Dance and Performance: Impact, Voice and Gaze that will examine and explore Black dance from a British perspective.
They also have a CPD-accredited training programme for young archivists aimed at young people from diverse communities who are currently under-represented in the heritage sector.