Over 1500 teenagers and university students drawn from underserved communities recently gathered in Lagos for the inaugural Africa Future Framers Festival, a capacity-building platform created to support young Nigerians to dream, design and drive the continent’s future.

The event delivered a five-hour intensive experience aimed at addressing Africa’s need for critical thinking, innovation and responsible citizenship, skills often missing in traditional schooling.

The festival invited accomplished professionals as keynote speakers and facilitators to teach real-world competencies in areas such as multimedia editing, visual storytelling, graphics and web design and digital content creation, giving participants the chance not just to learn but to apply.

Convener of Africa Future Framers, Mercy Frank, said: “Young Africans are not waiting for the future — they want to build it, and we are handing them the tools to solve the problems in their communities and beyond.”

As Nigeria rolls out its updated education curriculum, which introduces subjects such as digital literacy, coding and entrepreneurship, many schools still lack trained teachers to deliver them.

“We spotted that gap,” said Frank, adding, “So, we tapped our network of experienced professionals who volunteer their time to teach these new subjects and mentor students in underserved areas.”

The festival is the launch point of a year-long learning scheme where young participants will continue to develop their skills, gain mentorship and launch youth-led initiatives. Africa Future Framers is a youth empowerment initiative dedicated to transforming Africa’s young people into industry leaders, driving sustainable development and accountable governance.