Call for
Participation
Artificial intelligence is changing how we work, organise, fund, communicate and make decisions. Data is changing who holds knowledge and power. Digital technologies are reshaping relationships between funders, organisations and communities. As Africa enters this new digital era, a critical question confronts philanthropy: will it simply adapt to technologies designed elsewhere, or will it help shape the digital future required for the continent?
The 7th African Philanthropy Conference addresses this question under the theme “Philanthropy in the Age of AI and Digital Sovereignty in Africa.” Building on the APC journey from agenda-setting and resilience to systems change, emerging frontiers and sustainable financing the 2027 conference moves into the digital terrain and asks how African philanthropy can move beyond digital adaptation towards digital agency.
Digital sovereignty is not only about owning platforms or infrastructure. It is also about who designs digital systems, whose knowledge is encoded, whose labour is recognised, whose data is extracted, who can make and contest decisions, and who benefits from the value created.
This conversation is inseparable from gender. Access to connectivity, devices, digital finance, technical skills, online safety and decision-making is shaped by gender alongside age, disability, class, geography and language. A conversation about African digital sovereignty must ask whose agency is being strengthened within African societies.
How can African philanthropy move beyond digital adaptation towards digital agency?
Evidence and experience, in conversation
The 7th APC is one conference convened through two complementary sessions. Research from the Academic Conference will feed into the practitioner conversations of the Main Conference, allowing evidence and experience to speak to each other throughout the week. Contributors may respond to either or both calls.
Academic Conference
For scholars, researchers, doctoral candidates, early-career scholars, policymakers and practitioners submitting original research.
Main Conference
For practitioners and organisations bringing practical experience, innovations, challenges, tools, cases and ideas for action.
Choose the route that fits your contribution
| Feature | Session 1: Academic Conference | Session 2: Main Conference |
|---|---|---|
| Who is invited | Scholars, researchers, doctoral candidates, early-career scholars, policymakers and practitioners | Philanthropic organisations, civil society, funders, social investors, policymakers, technology innovators, digital-rights actors and networks |
| What to submit | An abstract of 300–500 words, followed by a full draft paper if accepted | A session proposal anchored in practice, experience, innovation or a case |
| Formats | Individual papers, panels, roundtables, posters and a doctoral colloquium | Workshops, roundtables, dialogues, demonstrations, panels and other interactive formats |
| Submission deadline | 16 October 2026 | 20 November 2026 |
Shared questions for scholarship and practice
Abstracts and session proposals may focus on one area or move across several where the issues intersect.
AI, African agency & accountable innovation
How AI is entering philanthropy, where it helps, where it creates new problems, and how institutions retain human judgment, contextual intelligence and community accountability.
Data sovereignty, consent, knowledge & memory
Who controls and benefits from knowledge; how African languages, indigenous knowledge, oral histories and community memory can enter digital systems without losing context or ownership.
Digital infrastructure, platform power & autonomy
Local hosting, cybersecurity, procurement, open-source alternatives, platform dependency and the choices organisations face when seeking greater institutional autonomy.
Gender, digital divides, capability & work
Connectivity, online safety, technical skills, leadership, youth employment, platform work and decent work centering groups constrained in technological design, governance and labour markets.
Digital finance, trusted giving & capital
Mobile money, digital wallets, crowdfunding, diaspora giving and community funds and how trusted systems can strengthen locally rooted giving and equitable access.
Civic space, digital rights & accountability
Surveillance, misinformation, biometric identification, online harassment, platform moderation and internet shutdowns and philanthropy’s role in protecting rights and participation.
Continental governance, climate futures & digital sovereignty
How philanthropy can support policy literacy, regulatory capacity, public-interest research, cross-border cooperation and ecologically responsible digital transformation that does not reproduce extractive models.
Choose the format that fits your research
Authors should indicate their preferred format when submitting. Final decisions on format and session placement rest with the Scientific Committee.
Individual paper
A scholarly paper reporting completed or advanced research, grouped with related work in a themed session.
Panel
Three to four papers under a shared title, ideally spanning institutions or countries, with a chair and, where possible, a discussant.
Roundtable
Short opening interventions on a shared issue, followed by substantial structured discussion with the audience.
Poster
A visual presentation of completed or ongoing research, particularly suited to early-career researchers and work in progress.
Doctoral colloquium
A supportive forum for doctoral candidates to present emerging research and receive feedback from experienced scholars.
Prepare a strong abstract
- Length: 300–500 words.
- Core content: State the research problem, objectives, methodology (where applicable), key or expected findings, and contribution to African philanthropy scholarship and practice.
- Keywords: Include three to five keywords and identify the relevant area(s) of engagement.
- Languages: English, French, Portuguese or Arabic.
- Blind review: Enter names, affiliations and contact details in the portal only; do not include them in the abstract body.
- Originality: Work must not be published, accepted, presented elsewhere or under review elsewhere.
- Submission limit: A lead author may submit up to two abstracts and may co-author additional submissions.
- Attendance: At least one author of an accepted submission must register and present in person in Addis Ababa.
Double-blind peer review
Each abstract will be reviewed by at least two independent members of the Scientific Committee.
Decisions of the Scientific Committee are final.
What the conference provides
Included support
- Conference registration
- Conference materials
- Conference meals
- Local transport, including airport transfers and transport between designated conference hotels and the venue
Conditions and costs
Presenters are expected to cover international travel and accommodation unless notified otherwise.
A limited number of travel scholarships will be considered only for authors who submit a complete draft paper by 22 January 2027 and whose papers meet academic review requirements.
Registration fee waivers may be considered upon written request and are subject to approval by the conference convenors.
Bring your research into the conversation
Submit an original abstract that advances scholarship, policy or practice at the intersection of African philanthropy, AI and digital sovereignty.
Submit your abstractMake it participatory
Each practitioner session will run for 90 minutes. Proposals should fit the time while leaving room for meaningful participation.
Bring the ecosystem into the room
Proposals are welcome from individuals, organisations, networks and partnerships working within or alongside African philanthropy.
- Philanthropic foundations and networks
- African philanthropists and giving initiatives
- Civil society and community-based organisations
- Grassroots organisations and social movements
- Feminist and women-led organisations
- Youth-led organisations
- Funders and development partners
- Social investors
- Technology and AI organisations
- Digital-rights organisations
- Policymakers and public institutions
- Research and knowledge institutions
- Social enterprises and community innovators
- Cross-sector partnerships and coalitions
Collaborative proposals spanning sectors, countries, generations and perspectives are particularly encouraged. The programme will seek to ensure that people and communities most affected by digital transformation participate as contributors not only as subjects of discussion.
Show the practice behind the idea
You do not need to submit an academic paper or conventional research abstract. Your proposal should make the practical value of the session clear.
- Session title: Give your proposed session a clear, compelling title.
- Issue or question: Explain what the session will explore and why it matters to African philanthropy.
- Practical anchor: Identify the experience, innovation, case, tool or perspective at the heart of the discussion.
- Format: Name the proposed session format and show how it will work within 90 minutes.
- Contributors: List facilitators, speakers, panellists or other contributors with affiliations and roles.
- Participation: Explain how attendees will be engaged rather than treated as a passive audience.
- Contribution: State what the session will add to practice, learning, collaboration or future action.
- Context and inclusion: Ground the proposal in African contexts and communities and attend to gender and other forms of inequality.
What selectors will look for
Turn practice into shared learning
Propose an engaging practitioner session grounded in experience, experimentation, community insight, innovation or action.
Submit a session proposalPlan your submission
| Milestone | Academic Conference | Main Conference |
|---|---|---|
| Call opens | 28 August 2026 | 5 October 2026 |
| Submission deadline | 16 October 2026 | 20 November 2026 |
| Notification of outcome | 6 November 2026 | 11 December 2026 |
| Full draft paper deadline | 22 January 2027 | Not applicable |
| Peer review and revisions | February–March 2027 | Not applicable |
| Session duration | As scheduled by the Scientific Committee | 90 minutes |
| Conference | 27–31 July 2027, Addis Ababa | 27–31 July 2027, Addis Ababa |
Questions? We’re here to help.
Academic Conference
For questions about abstracts, the submission process or presentation formats:
wycliffe.ouma@wits.ac.zaphumudzo.mufamadi@wits.ac.za
Main Conference
For questions about practitioner sessions and the Main Conference:
hello@africanphilanthropyconference.comHelp shape Africa’s digital philanthropic future
AI and digital technologies are already reshaping African philanthropy. The 7th APC creates a space to examine who is shaping this transformation, whose knowledge and interests it reflects, and how African philanthropy can exercise greater agency over the infrastructures, resources and decisions that will define its digital future.
We look forward to receiving your abstracts and session proposals and to welcoming you to Addis Ababa in July 2027.