Agora Policy is a Nigerian think tank and non-profit that works on practical solutions to urgent national challenges. Its Policy Writing Fellowship builds the capacity of people already working on policy to conceive, research and write compelling policy papers. The programme is non-residential and advertised as three months: an in-person inception workshop in Abuja opens it, followed by a series of virtual workshops and one-to-one supervision. Every fellow is assigned a supervisor and is expected to finish with a publishable policy paper. The fellowship sits inside Agora Policy’s Policy Support, Deepening and Engagement (PSDE) project, supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Two cohorts have run so far: 20 fellows from February to April 2025, and 25 fellows who graduated on 25 June 2026 — a run Agora Policy described as four months.
Benefits & funding
- Three months of writing workshops, delivered as a mixture of lectures, case studies and experience-sharing, in person in Abuja and then online.
- A named supervisor for each fellow, guiding the paper from idea to publishable draft; the first cohort was supervised by four senior policy practitioners.
- Research grants attached to the individual writing projects. Agora Policy does not publish the amount.
- A certificate on completion, awarded at a graduation ceremony.
- Publication and public presentation of the finished paper. Second-cohort papers covered artificial intelligence, disease containment, air quality, food security, job creation, gender equity and industrial policy.
Eligibility
- Early- to mid-career staff of Nigerian civil society organisations, media organisations, think tanks and government institutions. The call is addressed to people holding a current role in one of those Nigerian institutions, and both cohorts to date were made up entirely of Nigerians.
- At least a first degree, in any discipline.
- Comfort working with quantitative data.
- Demonstrated commitment to research, writing and public policy.
- No age limit and no minimum number of years of experience are published.
Can you apply?
Worth a closer look
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Nigeria
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Education required
Bachelor
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Application process
- 1Watch for the annual call. Both cycles so far closed in the second half of November — 29 November 2024 and 20 November 2025.
- 2Write a 400-word statement of purpose covering your motivation and interest in policy writing.
- 3Prepare a résumé or CV.
- 4Assemble two policy-related writing samples, published or unpublished.
- 5Obtain a letter of endorsement from your employer, or a reference letter if you work freelance.
- 6Email the complete set to fellowship@agorapolicy.org before the deadline.
Program timeline
First cohort application deadline
Nov 29, 2024
Inception workshop, Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja
Feb 10, 2025 to Feb 11, 2025
First cohort graduation — 18 of 20 fellows completed
Apr 30, 2025
Second cohort application deadline
Nov 20, 2025
Second cohort graduation — 22 of 25 fellows completed
Jun 25, 2026
Next call not yet announced. On the pattern of the first two cycles it would open around October or November 2026.