Closed 2026 Enterprising Futures Scholarship | Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and One Young World

Enterprising Futures Scholarship 2026 (Closed)

The Enterprising Futures Scholarship 2026 was a scholarship programme run by One Young World in partnership with the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Dutch Enterprise Agency (RVO). The 2026 application deadline was 9 March 2026, so that cycle is closed. This page is retained as a historical reference for the opportunity, its eligibility rules, and the support attached to the 2026 cohort.

The official programme page remains the best source for the archived description: One Young World: Enterprising Futures Scholarship 2026. The durable programme page replaces the old application-form URL that was previously listed here. It is not an active application link, and no next-cycle opening date or deadline has been verified. The programme page describes the scholarship as annual, but readers should not treat that description as an announcement of a new cycle.

2026 status at a glance

The dates in this table describe the closed 2026 cycle. They are not a current invitation to submit an application. The historical flag in this record is intentional: it keeps the real deadline available for archive and search purposes while preventing the listing from presenting an expired opportunity as open.

What the scholarship was designed to support

Enterprising Futures focused on young entrepreneurs and business leaders working on scalable solutions with social or environmental impact. The partnership was framed around the role of entrepreneurship in strengthening local economies and responding to sustainability challenges. The intended participants were not simply people with an early idea; the published criteria looked for people leading or taking a meaningful role in a scalable start-up or small to medium-sized enterprise.

The 2026 cohort was scheduled to attend the One Young World Summit in Cape Town. One Young World described the Summit as a gathering of 2,000 young leaders from more than 190 countries. Alongside the main Summit, scholars were scheduled to join additional events organised by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including an in-person pre-programme in Cape Town. That pre-programme was described as lasting two days and including workshops, interactive activities, peer connections, leadership and entrepreneurial development, and a pitching competition.

The programme therefore combined travel assistance with structured participation. The value was not presented as a tuition payment or unrestricted grant. It was a package intended to make attendance possible and to connect selected entrepreneurs with a wider network of peers, practitioners, and institutions. The official page also described access to the One Young World Global Leadership Programme, the Action Accelerator, and lifetime membership in the One Young World Ambassador Community.

What the 2026 scholarship covered

The official description lists practical support rather than a separate cash prize. The recorded benefits for a selected Enterprising Futures Scholar were:

• Access to additional events organised by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including the pre-programme.
• Access to the One Young World Summit 2026 in Cape Town from 3–6 November.
• Hotel accommodation for the pre-programme and Summit dates.
• One night of hotel accommodation, if required, for the visa application process.
• Return economy travel from the scholar’s country of residence to Cape Town.
• Domestic travel costs to the airport used for the international flight.
• Visa costs where applicable, including the visa application fee and required travel for a visa appointment.
• Breakfast, lunch, and dinner throughout the pre-programme and Summit.
• Transport between Summit accommodation and the Summit venue.
• Access to the One Young World Global Leadership Programme, Action Accelerator, and lifetime Ambassador Community membership.

Those benefits explain the amount field for this listing: the official source describes a funded participation package, but does not give a cash award amount. It would be inaccurate to turn the package into a made-up monetary figure. It would also be misleading to describe it as a general business grant. The support was tied to travel, accommodation, meals, programme participation, and related access for the selected 2026 scholars.

Who was eligible for the closed 2026 cycle

The published candidate criteria were specific. A candidate had to be aged 18–35 by the date of the One Young World Summit 2026 in November. They also had to be leading or part of a scalable start-up or SME with demonstrable social and/or environmental impact, in an entrepreneurial or similar role. The wording allowed for an important distinction: a person did not necessarily have to be the founder, but they did need a substantive role in the enterprise.

Candidates also had to be nationals of and residents of one of the listed countries. The 2026 list was:

Algeria, Benin, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iraq including the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Palestine, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tunisia, and Uganda.

The nationality-and-residency condition matters. The official wording did not say that holding a passport from one of the countries was sufficient on its own. It required both nationality and residence in an eligible country. This page records that rule for people assessing the historical cohort; it is not a basis for assuming that a future cycle, if announced, will use identical criteria.

All candidates were required to have a working understanding of English because the One Young World Summit and the Enterprising Futures pre- and post-programmes were to be held in English. Candidates also had to be available full time from 30 October–7 November 2026, as well as for the additional pre- and post-programme dates. The official page additionally stated that the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs encouraged eligible young entrepreneurs from rural and urban settings and described its commitment to an inclusive and diverse environment.

How the 2026 application process is recorded

The application process for this cycle is no longer available. During the published 2026 window, candidates were directed to an application portal linked from the One Young World programme page. The official description also warned that candidates who were longlisted might be invited to submit additional documentation, including references. That is useful context for understanding the process, but it is not an active set of instructions now that the 9 March 2026 deadline has passed.

There is no application form link in this archive entry because the form URL was cycle-specific and could make the page look open when it is not. The official programme page is retained instead so that readers can review the organiser’s description and any later announcement made by One Young World. No next-cycle application date, deadline, eligibility update, or replacement form has been verified for this record.

What made the opportunity distinctive

The programme’s focus was the combination of enterprise leadership and measurable social or environmental impact. A general interest in entrepreneurship would not, by itself, match the published description. The relevant enterprise could be a start-up or SME, but it needed a model that the organisers considered scalable and impact-oriented. The official page gave this context through its emphasis on innovative products and services, local economic strength, sustainable growth, and expansion into new markets.

The scholarship also connected business participation to public-sector development work. The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs said previous scholars had contributed to ecosystem mapping, advised on new initiatives, and shared their experiences at events organised by the ministry or its partners. Selected scholars were expected to participate actively throughout the programme, and the official page noted that their contact details might be shared with Dutch embassies in eligible countries. Those expectations are part of the historical record and show that the award involved representation and engagement, not only a funded trip.

The pre-programme was another meaningful part of the package. It was intended to give the cohort time to build relationships and develop ideas before the larger Summit. The pitching competition and workshops were described as ways for scholars to strengthen their entrepreneurial skills, scale their social impact, and make better use of the Summit. That structure matters when comparing this opportunity with a travel-only scholarship: participation in the additional programming was central to the offer.

Reference notes for future readers

This page should be read as an archive entry for 2026. The deadline is intentionally kept as the closed cycle’s real ISO date in the metadata, while the body states plainly that it has passed. The page should not be used to infer that applications are currently accepted, that the 2026 portal is still functioning, or that a later cohort has been approved.

If One Young World publishes a new Enterprising Futures cycle, its official programme page is the appropriate place to confirm the new opening date, deadline, countries, age rule, benefits, and application route. Until such a cycle is announced and verified, this record should remain historical rather than guessing at a future date. The partnership’s annual description is background about the programme, not evidence of a currently open round.

For researchers, the 2026 record is still useful. It identifies the responsible organisations, the target group, the countries included in the published criteria, the Summit setting, the time commitment, and the practical costs covered for selected scholars. For applicants searching for an open opportunity, however, the decisive fact is simple: the 2026 deadline was 9 March 2026, and this cycle is closed.