The Pan-African Volunteer Exchange Initiative

Summary

In 2024, CorpsAfrica committed to fundamentally expand its successful national service model, “Exchange Year”, previously successful in 9 other countries across the continent of Africa, which by 2050 will be home to 1 in 3 young persons on the planet. The project will provide 550 exchange volunteers with the opportunity to serve a second year in another African country, after serving an initial year in their home country. Partners will provide monetary resources to create infrastructure in each new country to support the influx of Exchange Volunteers, and help design and execute service projects in the communities in which they serve. In addition to providing core leadership skills training and broadening the scope of direct community impact through a wide range of development-driven initiatives, such as building a health clinic, access to fresh water, and education enhancement activities, the project will also engender a more cohesive pan-African perspective for the continent’s future leaders.

Approach

This Commitment will enable CorpsAfrica volunteers the opportunity to serve a second year in another African country, after serving in their home country for the first year. In addition to the on-the-ground impact, this initiative will advance a more knowledgeable and cohesive pan-African perspective for the continent’s future leaders. With experienced young Africans at the helm of their future, the African demographic issue won’t be a problem that’s solved, but rather an opportunity to leverage.

Already being tested in nine countries to date, this ambitious growth opportunity builds on CorpsAfrica’s proven scaling methodology from 10+ years of refining the core “home country” volunteer experience. The commitment is to fund the deployment of 550 Exchange Volunteers while expanding the number of countries in which Exchange Volunteers serve. Entire countries in which volunteers serve are impacted by the work they perform through such projects as the building of health clinics, expanding access to fresh water, and educational enhancement activities. Each volunteer works with villagers to discover what project the community needs, and are bespoke to each village. The impact will subsequently extend far beyond the immediate community through ripple effects and modeling.

Partners will provide monetary resources to create infrastructure in each new country to support the influx of Exchange Volunteers, and help design and execute service projects in the communities in which they serve. Partners who have close ties to the communities in which the Exchange Volunteers serve will be poised to assist, as appropriate, in more of the on-the-ground in community-wide activities, critical relationship building, and asset allocation.

Action Plan

This plan implements a three-year strategy that will deploy 550 Exchange Volunteers throughout Africa in the many countries in which CorpsAfrica already operates or will soon be operating.
Applications for Exchange Volunteers begin each year in February, and the Exchange Volunteers are placed in a non-home country in April. As Exchange Volunteers have already served with CorpsAfrica in their home country, they can begin language and cultural training for their new placement country directly after acceptance in the program. (Exchange Volunteers are required to develop an intermediate level of proficiency in the dominant language of the country they are traveling to before they depart.) Exchange Volunteers then start service in their “new” country each year ideally at the end of June. Most countries then provide an additional, robust, community-based integration to support language and cultural learning before they officially begin their service.
These are the timeframes that support the three-year plan below:

Year one (2025-2026) : Deploy over 120 Exchange Volunteers in countries where they are currently serving, while developing infrastructure in additional countries to absorb the increase of Exchange Volunteers in future years.

Year two (2026-2027) : Deploy over 180 Exchange Volunteers in countries currently hosting Volunteers, as well as expand to new countries.

Year three (2027-2028) : Deploy approximately 250 Exchange Volunteers and expand to new additional countries to be identified.

Background

Imagine a future where every young African has the chance to serve their country acquiring valuable skills toward their future while actively contributing to an economically vibrant pan-African destiny. This is our vision. Demographic trends show that one in five people on earth will live in sub-Saharan Africa by 2030, representing 42% of global youth. The World Bank predicts 9 out of 10 people in extreme poverty in 2030 will be in sub-Saharan Africa. The time to invest in African youth- and village-led development is now. After graduating from serving their own country for a year, CorpsAfrica Volunteers have the opportunity to serve in a different country, called an Exchange Year.

This Exchange Year is a cornerstone of the vibrant pan-African destiny mentioned above, whereby caring, thoughtful and passionate young Africans are steering the entire continent toward new, exciting outcomes. Collectively, these trail blazers are the future of a vital Africa, working to institute economic and social advancements that benefit the continent, and those hoping for an African renaissance that is created by and for Africans.

Progress Update

Partnership Opportunities

It costs $29,000 per year, per Exchange Volunteer to create infrastructure in a new service country, as well as recruit, train, place, ensure the safety of, and coordinate with Volunteers over their time of service.

In addition, CorpsAfrica provides rigorous measurement and evaluation services to the Volunteer and the community in which they serve to maintain the gold-standard quality of work performed. Resources also help Volunteers transition to future leadership opportunities in their home countries- and continent wide- using the leadership skills they’ve acquired during their time of service.

Lastly, resources are needed to manage the overall safety, operations, and infrastructure at local country offices and headquarters., CorpsAfrica Volunteers and staff use a human-centered design approach to gain deep knowledge of community needs and use that knowledge to fulfill those specialized needs with localized solutions. Volunteers work with, and employ, stakeholders who are most closely aligned with the challenge and potential solutions needed for sustainable change in that particular community.

These resources are brought to each community where Exchange Volunteers will serve – creating frameworks and processes that can be replicated over and over in many different community-needs scenarios. In addition, Volunteers look to engage local stakeholders in solutions, often creating new economic opportunities for small businesses and individuals at the community level.