Competition Terms and Conditions
PARTICIPATING IN COMPETITIONS AT PITCHER FESTIVAL
​
Eligibility
All participants must meet the age requirements for the competition, inability to provide acceptable proof of date of birth or submission of false documents will result in disqualification at whatever stage the discovery is made. Students are not eligible to participate in Young Professionals Academy. Participants in all categories of Young Pitcher Competition must not be more than 30 years old by 18 May 2024 and if participating in the Young Lions Competitions will also need to remain 30 or less by 21 June 2024.
​
​
Entry Fee
Payment is not separately required for participation in the competitions. However, every competitor must first be registered into the Young Professionals Academy. For 2024, the Academy registration is USD 50 (NGN 50,000) per participant.
​
Competition
Please stick to the timelines for the competition and the exact format prescribed in the brief for submission. Requests for extension or concessions will not be entertained and can lead to disqualification. Please understand that it is our responsibility to maintain a neutral platform that offers no party an advantage no matter how little.
​
​
Competition Result
The jury members are drawn from reputable organizations. As organizers, we only provide administrative support, we neither have control over the result or are able to influence the outcome of the competition. By entering for this competition, you agree to accept the verdict of the jury as final.
​
​
Timing
Exact timings for the competitions will be announced in due course. Winners will be announced during the Pitcher Festival in special entry review session including all the jurors and all the participants. This is an opportunity for those who have questions on the result to raise them directly in a fair and transparent process with the jurors in the presence of all the participants.
​
​
Accommodation
The entire process will take place virtually in 2024, so there will be no need for travels or arrangements for hotel accommodation this year.
PARTICIPATING IN YOUNG LIONS GLOBAL COMPETITION
​
Winning Teams
Competitors may choose to enroll in the national Young Lions Competition alongside the Young Pitcher Competitions. The Young Pitcher is an individual competition and the winner is the overall best performer across the African continent in each category. The Young Lions winning team in each category will be crowned champions for their country plus the opportunity to represent their country at the international finals as part of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in June 2024. Please note that Young Lions Competitions are done on a national basis, so if your country also has a national competition, you will need to qualify through that process.
​
The main goal of the national competition is to narrow down interest to participating in the international competition to only one team per category per eligible country for 2024 through a fair and transparent process. We will like to eliminate the confusion that we have seen in previous years about who the winner of the competition is. For the avoidance of doubt, the winner is the team that has performed the best in each category according to the jury and has obtained leave and the necessary sponsorship to participate in the global competition in France. If these conditions are not met or where the team does not posses international passports or other required travel documents, the organizers reserve the right to select the next most qualified team as winner.
​
Sponsorship
After winning the national Young Lions Competition, the winning team becomes their country's flag bearer and their employer becomes their sponsor. It is acceptable for the employer to provide a 3rd party sponsor. The competition will be done in-person in Cannes in 2023. The cost of sending a team to Cannes for the competition is estimated at about EUR 10,000. However, this cost may differ due to logistics or location of the participants.
​
Accommodation in Cannes
The standard practice is to provide accommodation in a 2/3-star hotel or similar studio accommodation for team members. Where shared accommodation is opted for , teammates of the same gender will be assigned the same twin-room. Where team mates belong to opposite genders, they will be assigned to twin-rooms with other competitors of the same gender.
​
Please also note the international competition is guided by the rules of the Young Lions Competition of Cannes Lions and the rules of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in general, therefore changes to programme rules, timelines and structure and fees are subject to change without prior notice.
​
​