Write your thoughts …

“You have to write the word that wants to be written….”

AAE publishes articles on its website written by members, volunteers and other contributors. This includes research articles, reports, news and blog posts If your article is accepted, please create a volunteer profile at this link to allow us to publish your article under your name.

Submission Guidelines

Topic proposals should meet the AAE’s dual criteria of “cultural expression x sustainable entrepreneurship”.

Promotional articles, particularly those advocating for specific brands require a small donation from authors representing companies or brands. This is to ensures fair compensation for the advertising space utilized

Based on the AAE vision of “providing a change engine and dialogue platform for African small and medium-sized enterprises”, the article needs to achieve:

Practical Insights: Help entrepreneurs understand the cultural, policy, and market characteristics of the African business environment, and reduce the risk of entrepreneurial failure.

Advocate innovation: Promote audience support for sustainable entrepreneurship and regional economic development, including government and donor organizations.

Cultural expression: showcasing local business wisdom in Africa and breaking stereotypes about the African market.

Content requirements

Scope of Topic Selection (Choose One)

Social enterprises and sustainable development.

Topic value: echoing AAE’s core goal of “sustainable entrepreneurship”. Example: Rwanda Women’s Cooperative: Using Banana Fiber Handicrafts to Reverse the Deforestation Crisis

Informal Economy and Cultural Resilience

Topic value: Revealing AAE’s focus on the ‘unseen African business ecosystem’. Example: Street markets in Nigeria: How Yoruba oral contract tradition supports billions of naira in informal trade

Technology and Digital Transformation

Topic value: In line with AAE’s goal of “promoting innovation” and attracting young entrepreneurs. Example: Agricultural fintech in Kenya: How mobile lending can bypass the problem of missing land property rights

Commercial reconstruction in conflict areas

Topic value: Reflecting AAE’s concern for “regional economic stability”. Example: Mogadishu Battlefield Cafe in Somalia: How the Catering Industry Becomes an Economic Link for Youth to De radicalize

Cross border and regional cooperation

Topic Value: Strengthening the “Platform Dialogue” Function of AAE. Example: West African “Grandmother Network”: Informal Cross border Trade Credit System for Ghana Ivory Coast Businesswomen

Policy experimentation and entrepreneur response

Topic Value: Connecting AAE’s “Government Advocacy” and “Corporate Practice”. Example: Morocco Renewable Energy Act: Desert solar power plants and benefit sharing model for nomadic peoples

Business Insights from a Historical Perspective

Topic value: Responding to AAE’s mission of “cultural expression” and providing a long-term perspective. Example: From the Salt Merchant Road of the Sanghai Empire to the Niger River E-commerce Corridor: Business Model Iteration of the Millennium Trade Route

Content Structure

Abstract (within 150 words)

Extract core contradictions and solutions to attract the attention of policy makers and investors.

Framework of the main text

1. Background: Characteristics of the business environment (such as policies, cultural taboos, infrastructure status)
2. Challenge: Specific issues faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (including interview quotes from local entrepreneurs)
3. Case: Analysis of Successful/Failed Enterprises (Emphasizing Cultural Adaptability and Innovation Strategies)
4. Suggestion: A replicable action guide

Data Requirements

Data sources

1. Prioritize the use of localized data:government bulletins, reports from the African Development Bank, and research from local think tanks
2. Field evidence: can include direct interviews with 1-2 African entrepreneurs (please specify how the interviewees were anonymized)

Taboos

1. Avoid relying solely on second-hand reports from Western media
2. Avoid general statements (such as’ Africans like… ‘) and indicate specific ethnic groups/regions

Writing Standards

Cultural Sensitivity

• Language: English and French, and local language keywords can be embedded
• Position: Avoid the “savior narrative” and emphasize the agency of African entities (e.g. changing “aid” to “collaboration”)

Submission and Review

Deadline

(Not  Specified)

Articles must:

• Include a 100-word biography of the writer (bio can contain social media and other links).
• Include all necessary references and citations in MLA style.
• Be written in English, using the principles of clear and plain language.
• Include  image(s), photograph(s), or figure(s).
• Not include any plagiarism.

Article format and other requirements:

• File type: Microsoft Word
• Word count: maximum 1,500 words in length with suitable headings for research articles and maximum of 500 words for report/blog posts. Word count excludes biography of the author and references
• Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt, 1.5 line spacing, normal margins.
• Figures and pictures: ensure you have the relevant permissions—credit must be included in the figure caption.
• References: use in-text references with a references section, in MLA style, at the end article.

Submission Process

1. Writer submits article and any article images to the Editor or Publication Assistant, with a copy to info(@)aaeafrica.org.
2. AAE staff and senior volunteers review the article. Writer receives feedback within 14 days.
3. Writer makes changes to the article in response to the feedback.
4. AAE decides whether to publish the article submitted and updates the writer. If your work is accepted, please create a volunteer account on the AAE website at this link.
5. The writer self-posts the article on the AAE website using English form or French Form. (Login required) if you encounter any difficulties, please alert the Publishing Assistant)
6. AAE approves the post entry and publishes the article., AAE becomes the copyright holder for the article.
7. Writer and AAE publicise the article through social media and other networks.
8. [UNV Online Volunteers] After the article is published, please keep an eye out for your feedback link on the UNV portal and notify AAE when you have sent it. The feedback link gets displays automatically on the UVP portal between the 3rd and 4th week from the date your application was marked “Selected” on the UNV website. This is an automatic prompt for feedback and is activated after the third week..
9. [UNV Online Volunteers] AAE sends a similar feedback on the UVP portal. Writer Certificate of Appreciation is generated by UNV
10. Writer optionally creates and shares a video on the volunteering experience with AAE or about the article

Volunteer Agreement to Grant Copyright License to AAE

By submiting an article for publication, the writer grants the African Association of Entrepreeurs a non-exclusive, royalty-free right in perpetuity to use the Work, in whole or in part, and to incorporate the Work, in whole or in part, into other works (“Derivative Works”) for educational and research purposes, including, but not limited to, reproduction and distribution in organisation’s printed and electronic materials and posting of the Work on the Organisations’s Web site(s). All right, title, and interest in the Work, including without limitation, any copyright, shall remain with the Volunteer.

The Organisation shall own the copyright in any Derivative Works it creates. This Agreement is made in consideration of and is a condition of the volunteer writer opportunity offered by AAE.