Nigeria Next

Nigeria Next aims to foster digital inclusion, creativity and innovation, civic participation, and evidence-backed policies to empower Nigeria’s young people and expand their economic opportunity. By empowering the nation’s young people, we can drive social and economic change in Nigeria while helping build a free and prosperous future.

This Nigerian-led program uses a mix of grants, impact investments, and thought leadership to help address barriers to digital tools, create an ecosystem of innovation, promote policies supported by research and analysis, and expand the number of young people embracing civic participation.

We work in partnership with MacArthur’s Technology in the Public Interest and Journalism and Media programs, and we prioritize collaboration with other philanthropic organizations.

Young people represent the largest segment of Nigeria’s population, and the intersection of technology, media, and democracy is shaping how they communicate, govern, and engage in civic life.

Young Nigerians have the opportunity to reimagine their country’s future. They are launching new organizations and businesses and building power through their activism on a wide variety of issues that impact daily life in their country–from slowing climate change and improving access to clean energy, to promoting democracy, transparency, and accountability, and to preventing sexual and gender-based violence.

Yet, even as young people hold great promise and potential, barriers to their success and influence persist. Nigeria has a pronounced “youth bulge”—60 percent of the population is under the age of 30, and 42 percent is under 15—but digital skills lag behind labor market demand. For example, only seven percent of young people in Nigeria have the digital skills needed to participate fully in the digital economy. Young Nigerian voices are also absent in global artificial intelligence (AI) policy conversations. With support and investment, young people in Nigeria can build a stronger, healthier, and more prosperous nation and world.

We are supporting research, policy development, advocacy, trainings, convenings, and pilot projects that will expand access to technology and digital tools, encourage creativity and innovation, boost civic engagement, and promote evidence-based government policies, with the goal of empowering young people in Nigeria to build a more free and prosperous nation.

We are making grants that focus on:

• Digital Inclusion: By addressing barriers to access, we are supporting efforts to accelerate digital inclusion and AI knowledge, ethics, and skills.
• Creativity and Innovation: We are encouraging economic transformation of Nigeria by supporting hubs, incubators, and working spaces where creativity and innovation can thrive.  
• Civic Participation: We are strengthening journalism and media and civic spaces by amplifying the voices of young people, promoting digital citizenship, and countering digital authoritarianism, to create a prosperous, democratic, and inclusive future.
• Research and policy analysis: We are supporting research and analysis of government policies aimed at empowering young people in Nigeria, while creating a policy environment that prioritizes this goal.

We are not accepting unsolicited proposals at this time. However, contact us to share new ideas and perspectives.

Evaluation of our work is a critical tool for informing our decision making, leading to better results and more effective stewardship of resources. The Foundation develops customized evaluation designs for each of our programs based on the context, problem, opportunity, and approach to the work. Evaluation is not a one-time event. It is an ongoing process of collecting feedback and using that information to support our grantees and adjust our strategy.

Findings and analyses from evaluation activities are posted publicly as they become available.