Calls For Submissions: Youth-led Businesses In Africa

PUBLISH’D AFRIKA Online Literary Magazine is opening its pages to the next generation of African innovators. We are calling for articles that spotlight youth-led businesses across the continent.

If you are under 35 and building something, we want to tell your story. If you know a young founder whose work deserves wider recognition, we want to hear from you.

PUBLISH’D AFRIKA Online Literary Magazine exists to document African intellectual and creative life in real time. Youth-led businesses are a crucial part of that record. They are the new cultural infrastructure. They are where economics meets imagination.

Africa’s youth are not waiting for permission. From Lagos to Nairobi, Cape Town to Accra, young entrepreneurs are reshaping industries with bold ideas and lean execution.

The magazine has always centered African voices and lived experience. Now we turn the lens to the people turning vision into ventures. We welcome features on businesses in any sector:

Arts & Literature: Publishing houses, independent bookstores, galleries, music labels, film collectives, and writers building platforms.

Technology: Startups in fintech, edtech, healthtech, agritech, and digital infrastructure built by young Africans.

Service-based initiatives: Consultancies, logistics, hospitality, beauty, and community services that solve real problems.

Non-profit organisations: Youth-led NGOs, social enterprises, and advocacy groups driving measurable change.

Creative sector: Fashion designers, animators, game developers, photographers, architects, and cultural curators.

What we are looking for: stories with substance and stories that inspire. Show us the problem you are solving, the model you are using, the traction you have gained, and the obstacles you have faced. We are less interested in hype and more interested in how you think, build, and iterate. Submissions that are blatant advertisements for your business or service will not be considered for publication. Word count: 800 to 1000 words. Include high-resolution photos, links, and any relevant data.

The deadline for submissions will be the 25th of every month. Send your pitches or drafts to info@publishdafrika.com with the subject line “Youth-Led Businesses”.

Let’s make space for the builders. Let’s put their work on record, not just their names. This is not just a call for content. It is a call to map the future as it is being made.

PUBLISH’D AFRIKA Adopt-An-Author Program – A Call For Submissions 2025

Each year, PUBLISH’D AFRIKA Online Literary Magazine sponsors the editing, proofreading, manuscript development and ultimately publication of six aspiring authors’ works, at no cost to them. Yes, for absolutely free! These are aspiring authors that we identify independently, whose works in our opinion stand out and show promise. The authors also have to be willing to be mentored further on the craft.This year, the indications are that we will increase the number to 10 writers. In March 2026, these gifted scribes will join the PUBLISH’D AFRIKA Magazine’s annual Spoiling The Broth anthology (Volume 4) launch and workshop, where a number of industry experts will further help to hone their craft. The idea is not only to help the 10 writers to publish their books, but to also inculcate in them the skills to build a fan base, and to develop themselves into brands synonymous with literature. While there is no age limit to writers who are accepted into the program, preference would be given to:

Writers under the age of 35.

Manuscripts must be written in English

Novels

YA Fiction

Short story collection

Memoirs/autobiography

Self-help books

Only open to SADC countries

We will not accept poetry or religious manuscripts at this time.

The PUBLISH’D AFRIKA’s Adopt-An-Author Program was established in 2021, with the publication of, amongst others, Zeripah Amoni’s book, ‘I Am Also A Woman’. The project was wholly funded by Mr Success Moripa, of Moripe Group of Companies. The project gained momentum with the publication of Matumelo Mafoko’s book, ‘Through The Silent Tsunami’. Matumelo’s project was funded by PUBLISH’D AFRIKA, after a sponsor pulled out.Anathi Kom’s poetry anthology, ‘A Tree of Life’, soon followed. This was a collaboration between PUBLISH’D AFRIKA and the University of Fort Hare. Anathi has gone on to make a name for herself, also becoming a contributor to PUBLISH’D AFRIKA Magazine’s Spoiling The Broth anthology Vol1.

In 2024, the program unearthed and published Sanelisiwe Ndlovu, author of ‘Covered In Scars’, Lazarus Kgageng with his masterpiece, ‘The Chords of a Hymn’, V.W Mayo and his YA offering titled ‘How I Got Over The Trauma of Being Cheated On’, Patrick Moabui with his poetry collection, ‘Laugh and Cry With Lastborn Vol.2’, Themba Skhosana and his thought-provoking body of work titled ‘Conversations With My Thoughts’, and last but not least, the 18 scribes who formed part of the Spoiling The Broth Anthology Volume 3.

How to get spotted by PUBLISH’D AFRIKA Magazine scouts? In this day and age, writing talent alone is not enough to guarantee success as an author. Authors now have to unashamedly market their crafts to death. You no longer just have to sell your book, but also sell yourself as a brand. Put yourself and your work out there. Get tongues wagging, be in people’s faces and hog the spotlight, in a positive way of course.Those are the people we are looking for; scribes who do not think publishing a book alone is enough. Writers who have laid the foundation and now need to be met halfway. Writers who are prepared to work equally hard for the success of their projects.

Send us a synopsis of your work (no longer than two pages, Times New Roman or Calibri 12), along with the first chapter, an author bio and a detailed marketing plan you have put together. Do you have numbers that you can show us? A fan base or following that would readily consume your work should it be published? Basically, can you show if there will be a return to the investment PUBLISH’D AFRIKA might make on you and your work?

Submissions open on 18 July 2024 and will close on 18 September 2025. Send your submissions (synopsis, one chapter, an author bio and detailed marketing plan only) to info@publishdafrika.com.

Download the PUBLISH’D AFRIKA Company profile to be acquainted with the works of the previous winners and of PUBLISH’D AFRIKA and its subsidiaries. Click on the link below to download the company profile:https://publishdafrika.com/2025/04/21/publishd-afrika-company-profile/