The African Union-European Union Innovation Platform (HORIZON-EIE-2024-CONNECT-01-01)

Strengthening Research and Innovation (R&I) cooperation between the African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU) is a key priority of the EU Communication Towards a comprehensive Strategy with Africa, in which the role of R&I is recognised as a driver for sustainable and inclusive economic growth and job generation, thereby reducing poverty and inequalities. The first R&I Ministerial meeting of the AU-EU High-Level Policy Dialogue on Science, Technology and Innovation (HLPD on STI) agreed to focus cooperation in four priority areas: Public Health, Green Transition, Innovation & Technology, and Capacities for Science, and also agreed to the development of a joint AU-EU Innovation Agenda, which is currently under preparation, and expected to be adopted at the second AU-EU R&I Ministerial in early 2023.

The action funded under this topic will have the objective of supporting the implementation of the AU-EU Innovation Agenda. The action is expected to bring together a mix of EU and AU innovation stakeholders, from academia and business, including higher education establishments, public and private research entities, non-governmental organisations, international finance institutions, incubators and accelerators, technology transfer and capacity building and higher learning organisations.

The aim of the topic will be to foster the links and networks between innovation stakeholders from the AU and EU innovation ecosystems, also including the social innovation dimension.

With the objective of guaranteeing a multidisciplinary approach, the selected consortium should be composed of diverse stakeholders (e.g. networks of start-ups, innovators, incubators, accelerators, academia, research and technology organisations, think tanks, NGOs, private and financial sectors, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology's (EIT) Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), etc.).

Target group

Networks of start-ups, innovators, incubators, accelerators, academia, research and technology organisations (public and private sector), think tanks, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), civil society organisations, private and financial actors. 

Deadline

Deadline to apply is: 25 April 2024, 17:00:00 CET.