NextUp Network Africa

DEMOCRACY. Our Way.

A new generation of Africans is reshaping how we participate in governance, hold power accountable and shape the decisions that affect us.

NextUp Network Africa is building the tools, platforms and networks that power young people to engage in governance.

Using technology, digital media, cross-border solidarity and advocacy to turn civic energy into meaningful participation. We are Next Up.

a youth-centered podcast
unpacking politics, and the politics of everything.

Check Out Our Latest Episodes

We host youth-focused conversations that
bridge young voices with intergenerational

We blend the credibility of legacy media with
the bold, unapologetic energy of the digital
space, giving young Kenyans a space to get
informed and engage in ways that feel
representative, relatable, and ours.

Through storytelling, civic and political education, and
authentic dialogue, we tell stories, educate, spotlight
changemakers, advocate for the youth, mobilize and
prepare young voters for the next general election.

Tujenge Pamoja

We aim to build and support a community of civic creators, citizen journalists and digital storytellers through mentorship, training, collaboration, safeguarding and shared opportunities.

Read more: Siasa pod ep 1

For speculation, vision-making, and Afrofuturist thought.

Future Imagined is where possibility takes form.

It invites writers and thinkers to explore alternative worlds, reinterpret the present through speculative lenses, and consider futures shaped by justice, creativity, and cultural continuity.

Grounded in Afrofuturist philosophy, this pillar embraces non-linear time, visionary design, and re-enchantment — opening pathways to futures that expand, rather than constrain, human potential.

technology that empowers civic change

Through partnerships in the tech spaces, this program will develop and support digital tools that make civic participation more accessible, strengthen accountability and respond to emerging technological challenges.

Read more: Siasa pod ep 1

and public engagement

We would like to create opportunities for dialogue, coalition building and policy engagement that amplify young people’s voices and strengthen democratic participation.

Read more: Siasa pod ep 1

For short reflections, emerging ideas, and cultural pulses.

Signals captures the quick movements of the world — brief insights, news fragments, experiments, innovations, and cultural shifts.

It functions as Sankofa’s “early-warning system,” gathering the small sparks that often precede larger transformations.

This pillar is agile, observational, and continuously updating, offering a living snapshot of the ideas shaping life on Earth and beyond.