Casa África, an organisation based in Spain that works to foster mutual understanding and strengthen relations with African countries through trust, is now accepting entries for the 17th edition of its Essay Prize aimed at recognising, encouraging, and disseminating original, unpublished essays that contribute to a better understanding of the African continent.
Entries must focus on the theme: “Disinformation in Africa: Local, Regional and Geopolitical Impacts and the Role of Artificial Intelligence.” The theme is chosen to analyse and broaden knowledge about this reality.
Submissions must contain rigorous works on decolonisation that are well-founded, go beyond clichés, and explore diverse realities from a critical and original point of view.
This call is open to persons over the age of 18 of any nationality and resident in any country who has no work and/or professional relationship with Casa África, nor any of the institutions that make it up (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, Government of the Canary Islands and the City Council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria). The winners of previous calls for proposals are also not eligible to participate.
As usual, only one essay per author will be accepted, although the same essay may be signed by several authors.
The winning work will be published in Casa África’s Essay Prize Collection, and a prize of 2,000 euros will also be awarded, subject to Spanish tax legislation in force at the time of payment, regardless of the country of tax residence of the winning author(s).
Essays submitted must be original, unpublished, and they must not have won any prizes or be pending the final ruling in other events or competitions. Participants must guarantee that there are no third-party rights over the essays presented, and they shall be liable for all and any claims that may arise in this respect.
The essays may be presented in any of the following languages: Spanish, English, French or Portuguese.
The essay cannot be less than 15,000 or more than 20,000 words (including footnotes, but excluding bibliography at the end of the essay), and they must be written in Word Arial 12 Format and double-spaced.
Essays must be presented unsigned, and will only be identified by the title of the work and whatever pseudonym each author may decide to use. Both the title of the essay and the pseudonym must appear on every page of the essay, and pages must be numbered. Any signed essays will not be accepted for the competition.
Interested participants must fill out the application form at https://www.casafrica.es/es/mediateca/documento/premio-de-ensayo-2026-application-formen.
The submission of the essays may be made in any of the places established in article 16.4 of Law 39/2015, of October 1, on the Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administrations, which are in the electronic register of any Public Administration. Here is the link to the General Electronic Register of the General State Administration.
The deadline for participation is February 2 to May 2, 2026, at 2 p.m. (GMT+0).
