The Young African Leaders Summit has opened nominations for YALS 40 Under 40: Africa’s Changemakers, an annual recognition of forty young Africans aged 18 to 39 whose leadership, ideas and work are producing real change across the continent and the diaspora.
Nominations opened on 30 August 2026 and close on 31 October 2026. Nomination, application and selection are free, and they stay free at every stage. Anyone can nominate themselves or put forward someone else, and both routes lead to the same application judged against the same published criteria.
Forty honourees are chosen across eight categories, five in each: business and entrepreneurship; technology, science and innovation; education and youth development; social impact and community development; governance, public service, policy and diplomacy; health and wellbeing; climate, agriculture and sustainable development; and creative industries, media and culture.
Every application is scored against seven published criteria, with demonstrable impact carrying the heaviest weighting. Independent judges outside the secretariat score each application without seeing one another’s marks, and provisional finalists go through verification and referee checks before anything is confirmed.
The Final 40 are announced on 15 December 2026 and recognised at the Young African Leaders Summit in Accra in November 2027. Read the criteria and start a nomination at yalssummit.com/40-under-40.
