The Tana Forum Secretariat is pleased to announce the winners of this year’s Annual University Essay Competition.
From a competitive pool of 23 valid submissions by African students across the continent and the diaspora, two outstanding women were selected as this year’s winners.

The winners are:

• Lita Wanjiru Ngure (Kenyan) – University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
• Fadzai Nyamarebvu (Zimbabwean) – International University of Management (IUM), Windhoek, Namibia.

Lita looks into Sudan and argues that we should not neglect the social infrastructures that sustain life; Fadzai proposes a model to bridge the gap between informal cross-border trade and formal institutions. Both contend the need to look beyond the multifaceted framings of informality to ensure that we do not economically disenfranchise vulnerable Africans, particularly women and young people. 

Both winners will have the prestigious opportunity to present their winning papers to African Heads of State, government officials, delegates, practitioners and experts in peace and security at the upcoming 12th Tana Forum, scheduled to take place from 23-25 October 2026, in Bahir dar, Ethiopia.

With youth comprising 60% of Africa’s population, the Tana Forum continues to champion the move to ensure that the agency and voice of young people are an integral part of mainstream discourse and policy deliberations on the continent.