Next Play Campaign template,/PHOTO; Courtesy
Senegal is hosting the Youth Olympic Games, the first Olympic event ever held in Africa, and a coalition of health and philanthropic organisations is using the spotlight to recruit young people into the fight against malaria.
The campaign, Zero Malaria Next Play, is led by Speak Up Africa with the RBM Partnership to End Malaria, the Global Fund Advocates Network, Target Malaria and the I AM Foundation.
It aims to build a new generation of African voices who can press for malaria elimination and help generate the political commitment and investment needed to achieve it.
The name comes from sport. In a game, the next play can change the outcome. Organisers say the same applies to malaria, where the next policy, scientific breakthrough, investment and generation of advocates could bring elimination closer.
Yacine Djibo, founder and executive director of Speak Up Africa, said the campaign grows out of her organisation’s long-running work on African leadership in development.
“For 15 years, Speak Up Africa has worked to bring African voices, ideas and leadership to the forefront of the continent’s development agenda,” Djibo said.
“We are investing in a generation that can connect science to society, transform visibility into influence and make the elimination of malaria a shared African ambition.”
The campaign pairs digital advocacy with community engagement and puts African scientific innovation at the centre. Dr. Michael Charles, CEO of the RBM Partnership to End Malaria, said that focus is deliberate.
“African scientists are driving the innovations needed to end malaria,” Charles said. “By amplifying their leadership and engaging a new generation, we can turn scientific progress into collective action and lasting impact.”
The funding case is central to the effort. Africa accounts for 94% of malaria cases and 95% of deaths worldwide, according to the campaign, and organisers say a child’s life is lost to the disease every minute, even though it is both preventable and treatable.
Mouhamed Drabo, stakeholder engagement officer at Target Malaria and a former president of the Burkina Faso Basketball Federation, said young people’s online reach can help mobilise the donors and decision-makers who hold the purse strings.
“By engaging young people in a digital campaign, the malaria community is amplifying their voices to call on leaders, the private sector, and donors to invest in a future free of malaria,” he said.
The campaign is available in English and French. It includes social media cards inspired by Olympic sports, along with messages encouraging people to take part in prevention and to give more visibility to a disease that affects millions of people in endemic countries.
Speak Up Africa is also running two events in Dakar during the Games. On 11 November, a storytelling workshop will help content creators turn scientific evidence and policy priorities into accessible, locally relevant narratives.
On 14 November, a 3×3 basketball tournament in Guédiawaye, on the outskirts of Dakar, will bring together young players from Senegal and Benin, alongside sporting champions, health advocates and community leaders. It is being organised with the Basketball Africa League and the I AM Foundation.
Ian Mahinmi, the former NBA player who founded the I AM Foundation, said the tournament is meant to carry the Games’ energy into community health work.
“From Benin to Senegal, the I AM Foundation wants to build on the momentum of the Youth Olympic Games and show that athletes and young people can play a meaningful role in protecting the next generation,” Mahinmi said.
Organisers say the effort will outlast the Games. It builds on a campaign launched during the FIFA World Cup in July 2026 and will continue at the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, to be co-hosted by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
