Inspiring action for sustainable African cities

Seeking possibilities for African futures

Championing multiple ways of knowing

Bridging creative expression and urban practice

Turning ideas into action

Attempting a whole-of-society approach

RISE Africa Action Festival returns 22-25 May 2024

Explore the full programme and register for sessions

Read the curatorial statement here

Lisez la déclaration de la curatrice ici

RISE Africa

brings together thinkers, doers and enablers from across the continent and the world to inspire action for sustainable cities. The platform curates monthly engagements, photographic competitions, thought pieces and networking events, taking a whole-of-society approach to imagining African urban futures.

At the heart of RISE Africa is an annual event convened around Africa Day and focused on critically and enthusiastically demonstrating how to make our urban imaginaries real – and how to forge ideas into action.

Collaborative art and creative expression are central threads that hold our deliberations together. Expressing and celebrating multiple perspectives, cultures, visions and actions is vital for making inclusive and vibrant cities, that resonate as African.

Happenings

Explore RISE Africa’s many themes and catch up on past monthly events by browsing previous digests or watching the recordings.

Explore more themes

Thoughts

Explore the 2021/2022 RISE Africa discussion series in which African thought-leaders share analysis, reflection and proposition about the future of our cities – a new one is released monthly.

Read the latest

Provocations

Watch short video provocations by urban practitioners across the continent.

Watch here

Annual photo competition

What do African cities actually look like? What should they look like? How can photography and imagery support new imaginaries, render unseen challenges visible, identify opportunities and guide decision making?
Our annual photo competitions seek to crowdsource images to spark answers to these questions…

Explore past RISE Africa Action Festival photo exhibitions

Action Festival

The RISE Africa Action Festival is the Africa Day event for cities. This annual event aims to inspire impactful actions for enhanced sustainability and resilience in Africa’s urban areas. RISE Africa 2025 registration is coming soon! Explore past festivals below.

RISE Africa 2024 Action Festival

RISE Africa 2023 Action Festival

ACE Africa

The Accelerating Circular Economy in Africa programme is incubating small businesses and entrepreneurs who seek to contribute to circular economy transitions. At the same time, RISE Africa is convening a Learning and Action Festival for building circular economy understanding and for connecting urban circular economy practitioners.

Learn more and explore the latest Circular Economy resources