African Storytelling Initiative KESSA Launches to Empower Emerging Talents
The Mohammed VI Polytechnic University’s Story School and the French-African Foundation have announced the launch of KESSA, a pan-African program aimed at identifying, training, and connecting emerging talents in African storytelling. The initiative seeks to promote new voices and narratives in the continent’s cultural and creative industries.
KESSA, which means “story” in Arabic and several African dialects, is designed to reveal, train, and connect 30 emerging talents in African storytelling, including creators, journalists, scientists, influencers, cultural entrepreneurs, and media voices. The program’s first edition will select 30 new voices from the continent to join a narrative laboratory and amplify the African story.
The program is open to professionals aged 25 to 40, with at least 5 years of experience in practices related to new African storytelling languages and community-driven narratives. The selected laureates will participate in an immersive residency at the UM6P Story School Campus in Rabat, Morocco, from March 23 to 28, 2026. The residency will include masterclasses, practical workshops, collaborative sessions, and professional encounters.
The initiative aims to promote experimentation, encounters, and pan-African visibility for participants. The work and profiles of the talents will be showcased in a pan-African campaign led jointly by UM6P Story School and the French-African Foundation. Applications for the first edition of KESSA are open until January 10, 2026, on the program’s website.
According to Meriem Idrissi Kaitouni, Director of UM6P – Story School, the program seeks to change representations and elevate African voices by telling about Africa differently, in all its diversity and creativity. Nachouat Meghouar, Managing Director of the French-African Foundation, believes that the work of the KESSA laureates is essential to building a contemporary, realistic, ambitious, and positive representation of the continent.
The launch of KESSA comes at a time when African cultural and creative industries are on the rise, and narratives are playing a growing role in social and economic dynamics. The program’s significance lies in its ability to empower emerging talents and promote new languages of African storytelling, ultimately contributing to a more diverse and representative cultural landscape. With its pan-African approach and focus on community-driven narratives, KESSA has the potential to make a lasting impact on the continent’s cultural and creative industries.
