Generation Give Festival./PHOTO ; Courtesy
From 12–14 August 2026, the city will host the first-ever Generation Give Festival, a three-day gathering that challenges how giving is imagined, practised, and governed, placing young Africans firmly at the centre of the conversation.
Billed not as a conventional conference but as a festival of ideas, action, and imagination, Generation Give marks a deliberate shift away from closed-door philanthropy spaces towards an open, participatory model grounded in lived experience, culture, and accountability.
At its core is a simple proposition: the future of philanthropy on the continent must be African-led, youth-driven, and impact-obsessed.
A New Kind of Philanthropy Space
Across Africa, young people are already leading responses to some of the continent’s most pressing challenges, from climate justice and gender equity to civic participation, livelihoods, and digital inclusion.
Yet many remain excluded from decision-making spaces where resources, priorities, and power are negotiated.
Generation Give seeks to disrupt this imbalance by convening grassroots organisers, youth philanthropists, investors, creatives, policymakers, private-sector actors, academic institutions, and global development partners in a single shared space.
The aim is not only dialogue, but co-creation, redefining partnerships, rethinking funding relationships, and interrogating how trust and power flow within the philanthropic ecosystem.
What Participants Can Expect
Over three days, the festival will host a range of interactive sessions and exchanges that push beyond theory into practice. Participants can expect:
Challenging conversations on power, trust, and resource flows, interrogating who controls funding decisions and whose knowledge counts.
Intergenerational exchange grounded in lived experience, creating space for learning across age, sector, and geography.
Culture and storytelling are embedded into systems change, recognising art, narrative, and creativity as tools for social transformation, not side events.
Youth philanthropists redefining what impact looks like in Africa, spotlighting alternative models of giving, accountability, and community ownership.
Rather than centring traditional panels, the festival format prioritises participation, experimentation, and collaboration, reflecting the realities of how young people organise, mobilise, and lead.
Why Generation Give Matters Now
The timing of the Generation Give Festival is significant.
Philanthropy in Africa is undergoing a period of reckoning, shaped by shifting donor priorities, demands for localisation, calls to decolonise aid, and growing scrutiny over who benefits from philanthropic investments.
For many institutions, there is increasing recognition that youth are not merely beneficiaries, but critical partners in shaping solutions.
Generation Give offers a platform to translate that recognition into practice by connecting institutions directly with emerging leaders, community-based innovators, and youth-led funds already doing the work.
Looking Ahead
As Nairobi prepares to host this first edition, Generation Give is positioning itself as more than a one-off event.
It is framed as a growing movement, one that insists philanthropy in Africa must reflect the energy, creativity, and leadership of its youngest generations.
In August 2026, the countdown ends, and a new chapter in African-led, youth-powered philanthropy begins.
About the African Youth Philanthropy Network
The African Youth Philanthropy Network (AYPN) is a membership-based network dedicated to elevating youth philanthropy across Africa, bringing together young philanthropists, impact investors, social entrepreneurs, and change-makers from more than 19 countries.
Launched in 2015, AYPN aims to shape the agenda for youth giving and next-generation philanthropy on the continent by supporting knowledge sharing, capacity building, policy engagement, and collaborative action among its members.
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