ILAPI Next of Kin Essay Competition (Ghana)

Theme: "Next of Kin, Property Rights, and Economic Prosperity in Ghana: What Must Change?"

Eligibility

·       Open to Ghanaians aged 18 - 45 years

·       Open to students, young professionals, researchers, activists, and social entrepreneurs

Essay Focus (Participants must address at least ONE of the following topics)

Essays should engage directly with ILAPI's Next of Kin, human dignity and inheritance poverty policy concerns, including:

1.     The role of the Bank of Ghana, Insurance, investment, and Pension firms, to ensuring beneficiaries and families able to access funds of the deceased to reduce inheritance poverty, disputes and asset lock-ups

2.     Addressing institutional challenges (banks, courts, registries, employers) in verifying beneficiaries and next of kin claims

3.     Policy and legal reforms needed to strengthen the beneficiary and next of kin recognition and enforcement. 

4.     The potential digital or administrative reforms to improve access to locked-up funds of the deceased. 

5.     Other topics on accessing funds of the deceased on mobile money, treasury bill, bonds, shares, and during and after the bank collapse in Ghana can be deduced by writers. 

Essay Guidelines and Document Formatting 

1.   Word count: 1,000 - 1,500 words (excluding footnotes, graphs, and images)
2.   Font size 12, Times New Roman, single-space, justify
3.   Essays must be original and policy-oriented
4.  Arguments should be supported with data, or real-world experience and examples
5. AI generated and plagiarized essays would be rejected
6. Use Insert Footnote feature, NOT endnotes, for citations. Do NOT use in-text citations
7. Online sources must come from credible sites (no Wikipedia, discussion board etc)
8. Essays should have an introduction, body with section headings, and a conclusion with recommendations.
9.  Writers must have written permission from image rights holders to use any third-party image, including tables, graphics, and maps, unless it is from a government source.

Submission Requirements

1.   Submit in Microsoft Word only
2. Include full name, age, occupation, and contact details
3.   Email submissions to: essay@ilapi.org
4.   Subject line: ILAPI Next of Kin Essay Competition

Deadline

Thursday May 28, 2026

Awards and Policy Impact

Best Essay: 

1.  First Prize: GH3,000 + certificate, Publication on ILAPI blog, French translation + books
2. First Runner-up: GH2,000 + certificate, Publication on ILAPI blog, + books
3. Second Runner-up: GH1,500 + certificate, Publication on ILAPI blog, + books
4. 7 other best Essays will be published in the Human Dignity and Inheritance Poverty Journal. 
5. Other outstanding submissions may be cited in ILAPI's Next of Kin policy outputs, advocacy briefs, or stakeholder engagements

Judging Criteria

1.  Alignment with ILAPI's Next of Kin, human dignity, and inheritance poverty reduction policy objectives
2.  Originality, Strength and clarity of analysis
3. Practical and reform-oriented recommendations
4.  Writing quality and logical structure
5.  Uniqueness of perspective

Download the following book and ILAPI's Next of Kin Report to guide your thoughts:

Development with dignity:  https://ilapi.org/assets/downloadables/1770104835_DevelopmentwithDignity.pdf  (Click/copy URL)

ILAPI Next of Kin Report: https://ilapi.org/report-details?id=22 (Click/copy URL)

Youtube Video on Next of Kin and Inheritance Poverty: https://youtu.be/tdXk-LV3IZ0?si=0PROIRz23d9ai4TQ (Click/Copy URL)

About ILAPI

The Institute for Liberty and Policy Innovation (ILAPI) is a Ghana-based public policy think tank promoting free enterprises, property rights, and institutional reform through research, advocacy, and civic engagement. ILAPI is an award-winning policy think tank that won the 2017 Africa Think Tank Shark Tank Award in South Africa and for the second time, a finalist in the 2019 awards in Kenya.

Website: www.ilapi.org

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