Handbook on European funding opportunities for African start...(e.g. start-ups, firms, multinationals) who are interested in engaging in research, development and innovation activities

Handbook on European funding opportunities for African start-ups & entrepreneurs Capacity upgrading module 1 developed in the

framework of the “Africa-Europe Innovation Partnership”

Handbook on European funding opportunities for African start-ups & entrepreneurs Capacity upgrading module 1 developed in the framework of the “Africa-Europe Innovation Partnership”

September 2019

https://africaeurope-innovationpartnership.net/

#1 EU funding for African start-ups & entrepreneursWill ensure a common and robust understanding of existing EU financing opportunities to enhance EU-African cooperation in the field of innovation

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EU funding opportunities for African start-ups and

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Table of Contents 1 The European Commission’s Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe programmes ........... 4

1.1 H2020 open to the world ......................................................................................... 61.1.1 Opportunities for individual research .................................................................. 61.1.2 Opportunities for collaborative (i.e. collective) research and innovation projects ....... 8

1.2 Africa in Horizon 2020 ........................................................................................... 102 The Enhanced European Innovation Council’s Affordable High Tech for Humanitarian Aid Prize ............................................................................................................ 123 European Investment Bank (EIB) ..................................................................... 12

3.1 The EIB’s focus on Africa ........................................................................................ 133.1.1 Supporting private sector growth across Africa .................................................... 153.1.2 Boost Africa ................................................................................................... 16

4 Europeaid ..................................................................................................... 174.1 Overall presentation of Europeaid ............................................................................ 174.2 Types of instruments financed and supported by Europeaid ........................................ 184.3 Europeaid’s focus on Africa ..................................................................................... 20

4.3.1 Pan-African programme ................................................................................... 214.3.2 The EU External Investment Plan ...................................................................... 224.3.3 Africa Investment Platform ............................................................................... 234.3.4 ACP-EU Programme to strengthen Research and Innovation capacity in ACP countries 24

5 Conclusions .................................................................................................. 26 References .............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

Handbook on European funding opportunities for African start-ups & entrepreneurs 1

Introduction

This booklet has been developed in the framework of the capacity upgrading activities delivered as part of the “Support to EU-Africa Innovation Cooperation” project financed by the European Commission (see https://africaeurope-innovationpartnership.net/). The project intends to connect the technology and innovation ecosystems in Africa and Europe in order to align disruptive innovation creating better opportunities of growth and scale-up for entrepreneurial ecosystems on both continents.

A number of capacity upgrading sessions are developed as part of the project in light of enhancing the abilities of the African start-up and entrepreneurial eco-system to engage in collaborative activities with their EU counterparts. Capacity upgrading activities are also meant to strengthen the African innovation eco-systems on the basis of mutual exchange and learning with European counterparts. The first training module specifically looks at the landscape of EU funding opportunities specifically designed to support the strengthening of African incubators/accelerators, start-ups and entrepreneurs. There are currently a number of cooperation instruments financed by the European Union which have been traditionally under-utilised by African beneficiaries. The main objective of the capacity upgrading module is thus to develop a clear overview of existing funding opportunities, along with the types of activities and target groups they are intended to support. Capacity upgrading activities delivered on the basis of this information will thus raise awareness, understanding and interest in these instruments among key target populations. This in turn is expected to lead to higher participation rates in these instruments on behalf of African stakeholders, leading to increased cooperation between innovation stakeholders in both regions.

This capacity upgrading module and booklet is mainly of interest to African stakeholders interested in engaging in cooperation activities in the field of early stage innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as those seeking to access financing opportunities offered by European institutions. By exploring the booklet readers can expect to gain a clear understanding of:

• The current state of EU-Africa cooperation in the field of early stage innovation and entrepreneurship

• The types of funding programmes and institutions offering to support EU-Africa cooperation in the field, as well as those providing support to African start-ups and entrepreneurs: Horizon 2020, Europeaid, European Investment Bank.

• The basic rules of eligibility and participation in these programmes • Examples of successful projects implemented under key programmes • Key contact information for those wishing to obtain further support / information

facilitating access to funding opportunities Booklet readers should not expect to find:

• Information on support programmes and activities funded by European national governments or by African national / regional institutions


• Detailed guidance on application procedures and reimbursement eligibility rules for EU funding programmes

• Information on programmes and financing instruments meant to finance large scale infrastructure or student mobility

This handbook represents the go-to source of information for trainers and participants of capacity upgrading activities focusing on this module (e.g. webinars, face to face training sessions). It offers a comprehensive and detailed overview of the issue EU-Africa cooperation instruments and funding opportunities in the field of early stage innovation and entrepreneurship. In addition to this booklet; a slide deck, testing material, and a supporting documentation kit have been developed and are available on the projects document repository which can be found here: https://africaeurope-innovationpartnership.net/resources

The capacity upgrading module on access to EU funding opportunities for African start-ups and entrepreneurs focuses on three priority programmes. All of these programmes directly or indirectly target private companies and start-ups located in the African region. The specific rules of eligibility however vary from programme to programme, and may change according to different funding cycles.

Given the dynamic state of EU-African bilateral relations and cooperation in the field of innovation, it’s particularly important for African entrepreneurs and start-ups to be well equipped and informed about the current and future support opportunities they may benefit from. If you are interested in learning more about the state and background of EU-Africa research and innovation relations, you can read all about it on the European Commission’s website on international cooperation: https://ec.europa.eu/research/iscp/index.cfm?pg=africa.

The world of EU funding instruments is complex and may sometimes seem difficult to understand, especially for stakeholders who are not familiar with the European Union’s policy context. Conscious of this, the European Union has developed a very wide array of support instruments and mechanisms, meant to support potential beneficiaries in their quest to access different support instruments. This documents represents a first point of entry for African stakeholders interested in becoming more familiar with this universe, and seeks to point them in the right direction in light of accessing existing European support schemes.

As will be explained in the following sections, there are a number of exciting and high-potential opportunities for African start-ups looking for support to grow and broaden their horizons. This document focuses on three specific programmes and initiatives implemented and financially supported by the European Union, which a specific focus on supporting the African innovation eco-systems. These programmes are illustrated in the following figure.


The following chapters of this document provide a general presentation of each of these programmes and the types of opportunities they offer to African stakeholders. They are meant to act as ‘first points of entry’ for readers wishing to eventually apply for funding and / or support from these programmes. This document should not be seen to replace the guidelines and support documents published by each of the programmes and funding windows being described. As such, the handbook also provides guidance on the sources of information and additional support interest beneficiaries may refer to in order to obtain further information and – eventually – carry out an application process.

#1 EU funding for African start-ups & entrepreneursWill ensure a common and robust understanding of existing EU financing opportunities to enhance EU-African cooperation in the field of innovation

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EU funding opportunities for African start-ups and

entrepreneurs

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Module 2

Module 1

Module 3

Module 4

Module 5

Capacity Upgrading


1 The European Commission’s Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe programmes

The Horizon 2020 (i.e. H2020) programme represents the European Commission’s main instrument to support research and innovation. It provides financing opportunities to conduct a range of research and innovation-related activities, both inside and outside of Europe. It represents the biggest multinational programme of its kind with a budget of almost EUR 80 billion. The goal of the programme is to ensure Europe produces world-class science, removes barriers to innovation and makes it easier for the public and private sectors to work together in delivering innovation1.

The H2020 programme targets research institutions as well as private sector organizations (e.g. start-ups, firms, multinationals) who are interested in engaging in research, development and innovation activities. Start-ups inside and outside Europe may benefit from financial support being provided through H2020.

One of the key characteristics of Horizon 2020 is that it’s open to the world, which means that researchers and companies (public and private) outside of Europe (including Africa) can also benefit from many of the funding opportunities provided by Horizon 2020. It’s important to notice that this programme has existed for a number of decades. Its name is regularly updated with each funding cycle of the European Commission. You may have heard previous names such as Framework Programme or ‘FP’.

After 2020, the programme will become Horizon Europe. The European Commission has recently published its proposal for what the future Horizon Europe programme will contain, including an ambitious EUR 100 billion research and innovation budget. Given that the current Horizon 2020 programme is currently coming to its end, African stakeholders should be particularly aware of the opportunities to be published as part of the future Horizon Europe programme.

The Horizon 2020 programme offers participants and beneficiaries access to some of the following:

• Ambitious research and innovation projects; • Mobility to Europe;

• Access to new networks and alliances; • Access to world class research infrastructures; • New business opportunities and visibility for research;

• Tackling global challenges together with excellent European and International Scientists • Research funding. For foreign participants (i.e. non-EU), the programme specifically offers:

• Access to markets;

• Access to knowledge;

1 https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/what-horizon-2020


• The possibility to attract talent and investment; • More visible global profile;

• Better research and exploitation. H2020 has identified three action priorities as illustrated in the following figure.

Image 1 H2020 priorities

Source: European Commission

Based on these three priorities, H2020 is divided into several instruments which offer support for different types of activities and different target groups (e.g. individual researchers, research and innovation consortia). The following figure provides a general overview of the different types of instruments funded under each of the H2020 priorities.

The first pillar on ‘excellent science’ focuses mainly on providing support to individual researchers. The ‘societal challenges’ pillar is more geared at providing support to collaborative research consortia working on research and innovation projects. H2020 also


finances a special SMEs funding instrument2. However, only European SMEs are eligible to receive support under this instrument.

The H2020 programme is delivered through work programmes covering two-year periods. The current work programme covers the period from 2018 to 2020. In addition to this, each of the H2020 instruments has a specific work programme which presents the types of calls and eligible participants which will be opened during the period covered by the work programme. Work programmes are the key source of information regarding H2020 calls and they are available on-line.

The European Commission has developed a special website which presents all the information on the H2020 programme and related work programmes which can be consulted here:

• https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/what-horizon-2020 • https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-

tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/programmes/h2020

1.1 H2020 open to the world Horizon 2020 is open to the world, what means that participants from all over the world, regardless of their place of establishment or residence, can participate in most of the calls of Horizon 2020. This includes African companies. Given the programme’s focus on supporting internationalisation and international collaboration, many instruments and work programmes target collaboration with third countries. Specific topics in calls for proposals may indicate that participation of International Partners is encouraged, or indicate that participation of partners from a certain country or region is encouraged or even mandatory. In addition to this, H2020 provides the possibility of implementing coordinated call which are co-funded by H2020 and international governments.

The EU may fund - at least partly - the participation of the international partners. Regarding funding, we can distinguish between countries that are automatically eligible for funding and those that are no). Automatically funded countries include: Member States of the European Union, Associated Countries, and countries listed in Annex A of the Work Programme. The great majority of African countries fall under the latter of these three categories (i.e. Annex A countries). Other Partner Countries are only funded when there is an agreement between two funding bodies, there is a specific provision made in the call text, or the European Commission deems participation essential.

1.1.1 Opportunities for individual research The main opportunities to obtain support for individual research are through the European Research Council promoting excellent research, as well as through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions promoting the mobility of researchers and technical staff. Both of these instruments fall under the “Excellent Science” pillar of H2020. They target researchers who wish to conduct work in Europe.

The European Research Council provides support for excellent researchers of any nationality wishing to conduct their ground-breaking research in Europe (EU Member State

2 SME Instrument https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/h2020-section/sme-instrument


or Associated Country). The programme has no thematic priorities and has a very strong bottom up and researcher-driven approach. Additional information can be found here: https://erc.europa.eu/

The main principles of the ERC are:

• 1 Principal Investigator (PI) and team;

• 1 Host institution in an EU Member State or Associated Country to Horizon 2020; • 1 Selection criterion: EXCELLENCE; • Project duration: Up to 5 years;

• Minimum 50% (Starting Grant), 40% (Consolidator Grant), 30% (Advanced Grant, Synergy Grant) of PI working time on ERC project;

• Minimum 50% of ERC PI working time in a EU Member State or Associated Country; • Possibility to move with the grant to any place in Europe if necessary. The main funding lines provided by ERC include:

• Starting Grant (StG): Early career top researchers, 2-7 years after PhD | up to EUR 1.5 million.

• Consolidator Grant (CoG): Top researchers, 7-12 years after PhD, up to EUR 2 million. • Advanced Grant (AdG): Senior researchers with a significant ten-year-track record,

up to EUR 2.5 million. • Synergy Grant (SyG): 2-4 excellent researchers and their teams (researchers with

complementary skills, knowledge and resources) project duration max. 6 years & up to a maximum of EUR 10 million.

Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (MSCA) offer opportunities for training and career development, and mobility of researchers is mandatory. The main principles of the instrument are:

• Open to all career stages and nationalities;

• Bottom-up approach; • International, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary career and knowledge-exchange. The MSCA provides has four funding lines:

• Individual Fellowships (IF): Supporting experienced international researchers to do research in Europe for 12-36 months in institutions from academia or industry. As an experience researcher of any nationality, you can apply with your individual research project to be conduct at a European organisation (work contract including social security for 12-36 months).

• Co-funding of regional, national and international programmes (COFUND): COFUND provides funding for funders, stimulating regional, or international programmes. It targets all stages of researchers' careers (ESR, ER).

• Innovative Training Networks (ITN): Networks of organisations offering research and training to early-stage researchers.

• Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE): They provide support for international and inter-sectoral cooperation and exchange of all types of staff (research,


management, administrative and technical). As a university, research centre, or company you can conduct short term staff exchanges with a joint research project. This funding line is perhaps the most relevant for African start-ups and entrepreneurs. This may cover staff of any nationality, and can include research, management, administrative or technical staff. This allows sharing of ideas from research to market through cross-border and inter-sectoral collaboration with Europe. The project should include at least three entities from three different countries, of which two should come from different European Union Member States of Associated Countries. The project can cover the costs for a secondment of a staff member for between one month and one year.

The following table presents the remaining calls for MSCA under the current work programme (2018-2020). Additional call will be published after 2021 in subsequent work programmes.

Funding scheme Publication Budget Deadline

ITN 20 12.10.2019 EUR 525 million 09.01.2020

RISE 20 05.12.2019 EUR 80 million 07.04.2020

IF 20 08.04.2020 EUR 325 million 09.09.2020

COFUND 20 08.04.2020 EUR 100 million 29.09.2020

1.1.2 Opportunities for collaborative (i.e. collective) research and innovation projects

The main source for collaborative research and innovation project support is the societal challenges pillar of H2020. By adopting a challenge-based approach to supporting research and innovation, the European Commission seeks to bring together resources and knowledge across different fields, technologies and disciplines, including social sciences and the humanities. This covers activities from research to market with an enhanced focus on innovation-related activities, such as piloting, demonstration, test-beds, and support for public procurement and market uptake.

As a legal entity from Africa, start-ups and businesses can take part in collaborative projects of Horizon 2020, you can receive funding, you can even coordinate a project. However, all proposals must meet certain minimum conditions:

• Three participants from different EU member states or Associated Countries; • You as an international partner must come in addition to this minimum.

Most of the H2020 calls for collaborative projects are divided into topics. Some topics have a two-stage submission procedure:


• Stage 1: You submit an outline proposal (standard maximum 10 pages, unless otherwise specified in the submission system). This is evaluated against criteria set out in the topic conditions.

• Stage 2: If your proposal passes stage 1, you will be invited to submit your full proposal within a given period.

Horizon 2020 calls can have different types of actions (funding schemes). The type of action specifies:

• The scope of what is funded;

• The reimbursement rate; • Specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; • The use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

Some of the most frequent actions in the field of collaborative research and innovation are:

• Research & Innovation actions:

- EU funding rate – 100%. - Activities aiming to establish new knowledge and/or to explore the feasibility of a

new or improved technology, product, process, service or solution. For this purpose, they may include basic and applied research, technology development and integration, testing and validation on a small-scale prototype in a laboratory or simulated environment. Projects may contain closely connected but limited demonstration or pilot activities aiming to show technical feasibility in a near to operational environment.

• Innovation actions:

- EU funding rate – 70% (except non-profits, which are still funded 100%). - Activities directly aiming at producing plans and arrangements or designs for new,

altered or improved products, processes or services. For this purpose, they may include prototyping, testing, demonstrating, piloting, large-scale product validation and market replication.

Start-ups are eligible to participate in call under these actions. Specific eligibility rules may change however on a call by call basis.

As previously mentioned, many calls for collaborative research projects specifically target cooperation with certain regions of the world. For instance, a call was launched under the World Programme 2018-2020 on bioclimatic approaches for improving energy performance in buildings in Africa and Europe (LC-SC3-EE-18-2019 – Topic: Building a low-carbon, climate resilient future (LC)). Proposals under this call had to involve at least one legal entity established in a Member State or Associated Country and one legal entity established in one of the African countries.

Remaining calls under the 2018-2020 work programme with a specific focus on Africa include:

• Bioclimatic approaches for improving energy performance in buildings in Africa and Europe (deadline 10 September 2019)


• Actions in support of the International Consortium for Personalised Medicine (deadline 7 April 2020)3

• Long Term EU-Africa Partnership for Research and Innovation actions in the area of renewable energy (opening on 26 September)

• Diversifying revenue in rural Africa through bio-based solutions (opening on 15 October)

All calls published under H2020 can be found in the programmes’ participant portal located here: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/home. This website also includes a functionality allowing you to identify the right call for you, as well as to conduct a potential partner search. According to the website, the following steps may help you identify the most suitable call for you:

• You may start your search from the home page by entering different keywords that characterize best your field of interest, and then refine the results with the help of further filters.

• You may start your search by selecting one of the EU funding programmes listed on the home page, and then navigate via the quick links to the calls for proposals of a specific programme.

• Calls are divided into topics, implemented by different type of actions. Select a topic to read more about the identified opportunity: the topic-related documents, guidance and other instructions are available on a topic page.

• The site offers a search on calls for proposals and tenders of the European institutions.

The European Commission has prepared a set of supporting documents for international actors wishing to participate in the H2020 programme:

• Guidance note — Funding of applicants from non-EU countries & international organisations : http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/grants_manual/hi/3cpart/h2020-hi-3cpart_en.pdf

• H2020 Participant on-line manual on international cooperation: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/docs/h2020-funding-guide/cross-cutting-issues/international-cooperation_en.htm

1.2 Africa in Horizon 2020 Africa is one of the regions the H2020 programme seeks to encourage research and innovation partnerships with. The following infographic provides an overview of African participation in H2020 until the end of 2018.

Despite the fact that there has been an active participation of a number of African institutions and researchers in H2020, there is still room for further involvement – particularly on behalf of African companies – including start-ups. African participation

3“For this call, the project should focus on countries in Africa linking also into the EU-AU (African Union) policy dialogue and taking into account the new Africa-Europa Alliance for Sustainable investment and Jobs”


remains heavily concentrated in specific countries (e.g. South Africa, Kenya), as well as in specific actions of the programme (e.g. MSCA for individual researchers).


2 The Enhanced European Innovation Council’s Affordable High Tech for Humanitarian Aid Prize

The Enhanced EIC pilot supports top-class innovators, entrepreneurs, small companies and scientists with bright ideas and the ambition to scale up internationally. African companies are eligible and are encouraged to apply for this prize.

The prize brings together the parts of Horizon 2020 that provide funding, advice and networking opportunities for those at cutting edge of innovation. As part of its activities, the EIC finances Horizon Prizes with the goal of solving a major challenge facing society. The prize is awarded to whoever best meets the challenge.

Currently, the EIC launched a prize to develop affordable high-tech humanitarian solutions. The challenge of this Prize consists in developing proven innovative and more cost-effective solutions to be used in a humanitarian aid context, based on frugal application of advanced technologies. This initiative is in line with the objectives of the last World Humanitarian Summit to find ways to better tackle humanitarian needs in a fast-changing world, develop strong partnerships and seek innovative solutions to current and future challenges.

Solutions should be novel (at the time of the submission) demonstrating the added value and potential of one or more advanced technologies (but should not involve only Information and Communication Technology. They should serve the needs of and be designed in close cooperation with the affected populations, in particular of those in a most vulnerable situation (taking age, gender, disability and minority status into consideration). Solutions should be developed through a frugal innovation approach and enable cooperation between international organisations, NGOs, end-users, local actors, the private sector, but also research and innovation communities.

Five prizes of EUR 1 million will be awarded, one in each of the following categories a) shelter and related assistance; b) water, sanitation and hygiene; c) energy; d) health and medical care; and e) open category. The contest is open to all legal entities (i.e. natural or legal persons, including international organisations) or groups of legal entities. Deadline for registration of interest: 15 September 2019. African entities are encouraged to apply. Additional information on the prize can be found here: https://ec.europa.eu/research/eic/index.cfm?pg=prizes_aid.

3 European Investment Bank (EIB)

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the lending arm of the European Union and is one of the world’s largest multilateral lender and the biggest provider of climate finance. It provides support both to European countries and non-European countries. The EIB supports European development cooperation policies by granting loans, as well as through specific mechanisms such as the FEMIP (Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership) and the EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund.

The EIB Group has two parts: the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund (EIF). The EIF specialises in finance for small businesses and mid-caps. The EIF typically concentrates on supporting enterprises in earlier stages of growth and the


provision of guarantee schemes. It is headquartered in in Luxembourg, but it has a network of local and regional offices in Europe and outside of Europe. In Africa, the majority of European Commission delegations located at the country level host EIB staff members.

The EIB focuses on four areas:

• Innovation and skills: The EIB offers a wide range of products to support public and private investment offering flexibility, expertise and creativity to get projects off the ground. Its traditional financing products are medium and long-term loans. The EIB finances large projects with direct loans and support smaller projects indirectly, via local banks or other intermediaries. The EIB offers the opportunity to combine its financing with EU grants, depending on the scope and definition of the project.

• Small businesses: In 2018, the EIB Group financed SMEs and mid-caps (companies from 250 to 3,000 employees) across the globe to the tune of EUR 23.3 billion (EIB Group). It supported 374,000 smaller companies, employing 5 million people. The EIB cooperates with a wide range of financial intermediaries that offer financial products targeting SMEs (also including micro-enterprises). This allows the EIB to benefit from its partners’ expertise, local knowledge and proximity to the businesses themselves. Mid-cap companies can receive direct support for research and development investments. EIB’s activity towards SMEs and mid-caps is typically more focused on delivering financial support (mainly funded) to established enterprises, mostly in the growth or maturity stages.

• Infrastructure: In 2018, the EIB provided EUR 12.25 billion to support infrastructure projects. It powered 34.3 million households and helped to construct or upgrade 26,007 km of power lines. In addition to offering finance and lending for infrastructure projects, the EIB adds value through technical advisory services, particularly in less developed regions or on projects involving complex structures, such as public-private partnerships.

• Climate and environment: Climate change adaptation and mitigation represent more than 25% of the EIB’s total financing. For investments in developing countries, this figure is expected to rise to 35% by 2020. In 2018, the EIB financed EUR 15.15 billion in projects for our natural and human environment, which includes biodiversity, clear air, clean water, sustainable transport, renewable energy and energy efficiency.

The EIB lends to the public and private sectors. The EIB does not lend more than half of the cost of a project, given the intention for loans to crowd in financing from private investors and other public financial institutions.

If you want to learn more about the EIB you can visit their website which is available here: https://www.eib.org/en/about/index.htm

3.1 The EIB’s focus on Africa The European Investment Bank (i.e. the Bank) has been supporting EU development policies in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) regions since 1963. The Bank has also been an active development partner of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) since 1968.

Since 2003, the Bank has been operating in these regions under the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement (the “Cotonou Agreement”, 2000-2020), which constitutes the legal framework


for EU relations with these regions. Under the Cotonou Agreement (signed in 2000, revised in 2005 and 2010), the central objective of ACP-EU cooperation is poverty reduction, sustainable development, and the progressive integration of the ACP countries into the world economy (Article 19.1). The agreement further provides that “ACP-EU cooperation strategies [...] shall aim at achieving rapid and sustained job-creating economic growth, developing the private sector, increasing employment, improving access to productive economic activities and resources, and fostering regional cooperation and integration” (Article 20.1). Financing under this agreement is provided by the European Development Fund (EDF), which is itself financed:

• From EU Member States’ budgets; and

• EIB own resources, which the Bank manages on a broadly self-financing basis by borrowing on the capital markets.

In this context, the Bank is entrusted with the management of the ACP Investment Facility (IF), a revolving fund which meets the financing needs of investment projects in the ACP with a broad range of flexible risk-bearing instruments. To support the preparation and implementation of the projects it finances, the EIB is also able to provide grants in the form of interest rate subsidies and technical assistance to its borrowers and final beneficiaries.

The Investment Facility mainly supports projects promoting the development of the private sector and commercially-run public enterprise. Investments in the infrastructure sector and the financial sector promoting private sector development are priorities, while eligible public sector projects are also considered under the ACP Migration Package.

The EIB has four priorities in Africa as illustrated in the following figure:

Source: European Investment Bank

2 The European Investment Bank in Central and East Africa

Local private sectordevelopment

Enhancing access to finance, particularly for SMEs and

microenterprises

Development of social and economic infrastructure

Responding to strategic infrastructure

needs in sectors such as energy, transport, water, urban development,

education and health

Climate change mitigation and adaptation

Climate action on renewable energy, energy efficiency,

sustainable transport, sustainable use of natural

resources and climate resilience

Regional integrationA cross-cutting objective,

improving links amongst partner countries and with the EU

Our priorities:

Novastar: Higher risks for more benefits

Novastar Ventures East Africa Fund is the EIB’s first operation under the Impact Financing Envelope (IFE). This EUR 8m investment is going towards a total fund of around EUR 60m, which will be dedicated to local entrepreneurs involved in early stage private sector MSMEs, for whom obtaining credit is a challenge.

This Fund will provide equity or quasi-equity finance to around 20 such small businesses involved in education, healthcare, basic financial services, agribusiness, and access to food and water. In terms of impact, the Novastar East Africa Fund aims to reach at least two million individuals from low-income households, who will benefit either directly or indirectly from the activities of the target investee companies. It also aims to create around 40 000 new jobs, of which 25 000 will go to those low-income households or individuals, with at least half of the jobs directly created going to women.


In 2016, the EIB concluded 39 new technical assistance agreements in support of micro-enterprises and SMES for a total of over EUR 56 million. As illustrated by these figures, the EIB is an important provider of technical assistance for microfinance and private sector development in ACP countries and European neighbourhood regions. In this field, the EIB focuses on four specific elements:

• Digital economy: The EIB believes in businesses which use technology to benefit the poorest people, finding solutions for healthcare, education and financial services.

• Financial sectors: Developing local and regional financial sectors is vital to enhancing access to finance and to sustainable economic development. The EIB provides credit lines also in local currency, guarantees, invest in funds, microfinance, provide financing for capital expenditure of financial institutions and build capacity across the board.

• Small and medium businesses: The EIB provides the financial resources (especially the ACP Investment Facility and the Impact Financing Envelope), tools and advice to invest in small enterprises – the driving force for economic growth and employment across the world – and to midcaps.

• Corporates and industry: The EIB support European businesses looking to invest in non-EU regions and sustainable industrial development programmes in the ACP/OCT regions.

It’s important to know that the EIB does not generally provide direct support to African start-ups or firms. Support is generally provided indirectly, through local financial intermediaries that the EID supports. The EIB invests in microfinance institutions, equity funds and venture capital and also extends credit lines to financial intermediaries. Taken together, these instruments all bring funding to SMEs where it was not previously available or accessible. By partnering with local intermediaries, the EIB benefits from its partners’ expertise, local knowledge and proximity to the projects themselves.

To find out more about what intermediaries the EIB works with in your country and who can eventually provide financial support to your company, you can consult the EIB’s full list of intermediaries here: https://www.eib.org/en/products/lending/intermediated/list/index.htm#

Through this approach, the EIB can support projects as diverse as a bus factory in Senegal and a sisal farm in Kenya, in addition to the thousands of microenterprises who have benefitted from the EIB lending to microfinance institutions across the ACP regions.

In line with the EU Development Consensus, the UN Millennium Development Goals and now the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the EIB’s activities in the ACP region support projects that deliver sustainable social, economic and environmental benefits whilst ensuring strict accountability for the use of public funds.

3.1.1 Supporting private sector growth across Africa Financial sectors in sub-Saharan Africa are generally shallow. Private credit amounts to around 21% of GDP on average in the region, compared to 49% in South Asia and 46% in Latin America. Access to finance for private companies, regardless of their size, is difficult, with around 30% to 50% of the population finding themselves excluded from financial services. This is a major barrier to private sector development. Thus, to support


development, job creation and economic growth, the EIB has invested EUR 1.3 billion in 25 projects across 17 countries between 2010 and 2014.

The EIB has partnered with numerous African institutions to support the development of SMEs, such as:

• Ecobank Group to support its longer-term lending activities for retail/microfinance, SMEs, local and international private enterprises and public sector businesses;

• PTA Bank, a Kenya-based multilateral regional development bank that supports employment, trade and regional integration in economically important sectors such as agribusiness, energy, manufacturing and services. The EIB-intermediated loan and technical assistance specifically address the needs of midcaps and SMEs;

• Novastar Ventures East Africa Fund dedicated to local entrepreneurs in early stage private sector MSMEs, for whom obtaining credit is a challenge.

The instruments deployed by financial intermediaries with the support of the EIB target a range of companies which may include informal firms through for instance micro finance institutions, to SMEs operating in the formal sector. The EIB does not apply a strict definition of what an SME is in the context of it operations in Africa.

The EIB invests in higher risk projects through a separate window of the ACP Investment Facility, the Impact Financing Envelope. This allows the EIB to go further than the traditional operations, and explore new sectors and new regions, supporting private sector initiatives with a more significant impact for poorer populations. Launched as a EUR-500-million envelope, the Impact Financing Envelope has been expanded to EUR 800 million by turning it into a revolving fund. It’s meant to target projects which tackle the root causes of migration, as part of the ACP Migration Package. The Boos Africa initiative presented in the following sub-section is supported through this Impact Financing Envelope.

3.1.2 Boost Africa Africa has some of the world’s fastest-growing economies and a young, quickly growing population. However, the continent’s social, economic and technological progress is endangered because of young graduates leaving or failing to return home at the end of their studies. Boost Africa, a joint initiative between the African Development Bank and the EIB, stems from the belief that entrepreneurship and innovation can play a significant role in accelerating living standards and social progress in Africa by meeting the needs of the people. Furthermore, boosting the African youth’s entrepreneurial power will:

• Create innovative and compelling modern businesses; • Increase the capacity for these businesses to compete regionally and globally;

• Attract both domestic and foreign investment and diversify investor profile; • Contribute significantly to job creation and economic growth. The idea is to become the premier platform to launch globally competitive companies from Africa. It will support the development of affordable solutions to fundamental challenges affecting those at the base of the pyramid, from access to energy and healthcare to financial services, agriculture/agribusiness, manufacturing, climate mitigation education and internet connectivity. Supporting start-ups also means sustaining the democratisation


of the economy, in a context characterised by an unequal distribution of wealth and high barriers for newcomers to start a business.

Boost Africa has an initial budget of EUR 150 million to:

• Deliver innovative, additional and long-term financial capacities in Africa; • Provide business advisory services and skills transfer for youth entrepreneurs to help

them grow in an efficient and sustainable way; and • Improve knowledge, information, and networks regarding the development of

entrepreneurship and of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Africa. The investment programme of Boost Africa spans the whole venture segment, including seed funds, incubators, accelerators, follow-on funds, business angels’ funds, equity-crowd platforms, and venture capital funds to support the creation of innovative and highly scalable start-ups and SMEs. There will be a particular emphasis on intermediaries that focus on youth and women as final beneficiaries. Deploying a blended finance approach, the programme expects to build a portfolio of 25 to 30 funds over a 7-8-year period.

Boost Africa also includes an Innovation and Information Lab that acts as a catalyst for innovation, knowledge, and partnerships by incubating and piloting promising new ideas. It also assesses and disseminate best practices and provide support to ecosystem interventions at country level.

Through this integrated approach, Boost Africa will both provide financial capital and develop human capital, helping fund managers and entrepreneurs to effectively deal with the many obstacles that arise when building new funds and new enterprises. Boost Africa is expected to leverage EUR 1 billion in investments to help create and grow 1,500 innovative businesses, create 25,000 direct jobs and 100,000 indirect jobs, and improve environmental, social and management practices in African youth-owned SMEs.

The Boost Africa Q&A page can be found at the following link: https://www.eib.org/en/projects/regions/acp/applying-for-loan/boost-africa/faq.htm

4 Europeaid

4.1 Overall presentation of Europeaid The European Union has its own development cooperation policy which is known as Europeaid. This policy is implemented by the European Commission, in addition to the development cooperation policies implemented by the individual Member States (e.g. French development policy, German development policy, Belgian development policy etc.). Providing over 50% of all global development aid, the EU and its Member States are collectively the world's leading donor.

This policy is managed within the European Commission by the Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (or DEVCO). Part of this work is overseen by EC headquarters in Belgium, while the rest of overseen by the European Union’s delegations in different countries around the world.


DG DEVCO is in charge of development cooperation policy in a wider framework of international cooperation, adapting to the evolving needs of partner countries. This encompasses cooperation with developing countries at different stages of development, including with countries graduated from bilateral development assistance to cover the specific needs of these countries during the transition period between low income countries and upper middle-income countries. DG DEVCO works closely with other Commission services responsible for thematic policies, as well as with the European External Action Service and Commission services on external action, so as to facilitate and help ensure a consistent approach.

DG DEVCO is responsible for formulating European Union development policy and thematic policies in order to reduce poverty in the world, to ensure sustainable economic, social and environmental development and to promote democracy, the rule of law, good governance and the respect of human rights, notably through external aid. We foster coordination between the European Union and its Member States in the area of development cooperation and ensure the external representation of the European Union in this field. DG DEVCO's work is carried out with the ultimate aim of:

• Reducing poverty in the world; • Ensuring sustainable development;

• Promoting democracy, peace and security. As well as designing policies to achieve these objectives, DG DEVCO is responsible for implementing the EU’s external aid instruments. DG DEVCO coordinates the actions of the EU institutions, the EU Member States and other EU actors around the Union's core values, objectives and common priorities.

To read up on the work carried out by DG DEVCO and its structure, you can visit the following website: https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/general_en

EU development policy seeks to foster the sustainable development of developing countries, with the primary aim of eradicating poverty. It is a cornerstone of EU relations with the outside world and contributes to the objectives of EU external action – alongside foreign, security and trade policy (and international aspects of other policies like environment, agriculture and fisheries). Since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by the international community at the UN Summit in September 2015, the EU is now working towards a new European Consensus on Development as a new common vision for development policy for the EU and its Member States.

4.2 Types of instruments financed and supported by Europeaid Europeaid support is delivered through a wide array of instruments. In many cases, the EU combines different types of support to countries in need. It provides funding in the form of grants to support projects and organisations furthering its development objectives. It also offers public contracts and provides budget and sector support. In broad terms, Europeaid’s support instruments can be categorised as follows:

• Grants and contracts: Grants are direct financial contributions provided to organisations, or to projects carried out by them. Most of the time, the Commission attributes them through calls for proposals. Contracts are awarded through tendering


procedures to purchase services, supplies or works. Both contracts and grants are awarded for activities contributing to specific development goals.

• Budget support: Budget support is an important tool to finance partner countries’ development strategies. It consists of financial transfers to the national treasuries, and also involves policy dialogue and measures to assess the use made of these funds. Budget support helps to deliver aid adapted to the needs identified by the countries themselves. To benefit from budget support, a beneficiary country must demonstrate commitment to the fundamental values of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. In 2017, budget support disbursements amounted to EUR 1.83billion and accounted for 18% of all EU development aid. The breakdown of commitments by region shows that sub-Saharan Africa remains the largest recipient of budget support in volume (42.2 %).

• Sector support: A large part of the development funding made available by the EU targets specific sectors in partner countries. This so called ‘sector approach’ increases the effectiveness of aid by supporting government-owned strategies. Sector support gives a boost to sector programmes run by partner governments. The funding can take on the form of sector budget support, grant and contract funding, or ‘common basket funding’ pooling resources from different donors.

The European Union has also developed blending instruments aimed at leveraging external sources of development aid, towards the achievement of common development objectives. Blending is an instrument for achieving EU external policy objectives, complementary to other aid modalities and pursuing the relevant regional, national and overarching policy priorities. The principle of the mechanism is to combine EU grants with loans or equity from public and private financiers. The EU grant element can be used in a strategic way to attract additional financing for important investments in EU partner countries by reducing exposure to risk. On a case-by-case basis, the EU grant contribution can take different forms to support investment projects:

• Investment grant & interest rate subsidy - reducing the initial investment and overall project cost for the partner country

• Technical assistance - ensuring the quality, efficiency and sustainability of the project • Risk capital (i.e. equity & quasi-equity) - attracting additional financing • Guarantees - unlocking financing for development by reducing risk

The Africa Investment Platform, set-up in 2015, is the newest of the EU’s regional blending facilities. For more on the African investment Platform visit: https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/regions/africa-investment-facility_en

Financial support provided by Europeaid is programmed and planned by means of annual and multi-annual thematic and geographic programmes. Programmes are implemented by means of range of thematic and geographical instruments. Funding Instruments are the legal basis of geographic and thematic programmes. Thematic and geographic instruments define the legal framework and the scope of programmes and specify which actors and which areas are eligible for funding. Examples of existing instruments include:

• Thematic instruments:

- The European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights


- Partnership Instrument - Instrument contributing to stability and peace

• Geographical instruments - Instrument for Development Cooperation - Global Public Goods and Challenges

- The European Development Fund (EDF) The EDF (last instrument on the above-list) is particularly relevant in the context of EU-Africa relations. The Fund provides aid for 79 ACP partner countries of the Union and for the Overseas Countries and Territories of Member States. It aims to stimulate economic development, social and human development, regional cooperation and integration. The 11th EDF will run between 2014 and 2020: it amounts to EUR 30.5 billion and an additional EUR 2.6 billion will be made available by the European Investment Bank in the form of loans from its own resources. To read more about Europeaid’s funding instruments and the EDF you can visit the following websites:

• https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/node/13953_es

• https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=LEGISSUM:r12102

4.3 Europeaid’s focus on Africa Africa is one of the priority regions of the EU’s development policy. Several complementary policy and cooperation frameworks govern EU relations with African countries. The most long-standing cooperation is with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group, enshrined since 1975 in the Lomé Convention and updated since 2000 in the Cotonou Agreement. Forty-eight states of sub-Saharan Africa are parties to the Cotonou Agreement. This covers different types of cooperation including: development initiatives, trade and economic exchanges and cooperation of a more political nature.

In Northern Africa, five countries – Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia – benefit from the EU’s partnership with its Southern Neighbourhood and participate in the Mediterranean Union. EU - South Africa relations are governed by the Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement (TDCA) of 1999.

Sub-Saharan African countries are also part of the Africa-EU Strategic Partnership which is enabling cooperation between the two continents based on a shared vision and common principles. At the Lisbon Summit in 2007, the European Union and 54 African countries adopted the Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JAES) with the ambition of:

• Moving 'beyond development', by strengthening the Africa-EU dialogue on issues of common concern and expanding their bilateral cooperation into promising new areas of common interest such as governance and human rights, trade and regional integration, energy, climate change, migration, mobility and employment, or science, ICT and space applications;

• Moving 'beyond institutions' by working towards a people-centred partnership, ensuring the participation of civil society and the private sector and delivering direct benefits for African and European citizens.


• Moving 'beyond Africa', by jointly addressing global common challenges such as climate change or peace and security.

The Africa-EU Partnership is the formal channel through which the European Union and the African continent work together. It is based on the Joint Africa-EU Strategy adopted by Heads of State and Government at the second EU-Africa Summit in 2007. To find out more about the Africa-EU partnership you can visit: https://www.africa-eu-partnership.org/en

As part the its development cooperation efforts targeting African countries, and the region as a whole, the EU has implemented a number of actions and programmes specifically targeting the region. A sample of the most relevant ones is presented in the following sub-sections. In order to gain a fuller picture of the different programmes and actions targeting the Africa region you can also visit DEVCO’s Africa Regional webpage: https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/regions/africa-0_en

4.3.1 Pan-African programme The Pan-African Programme (2014) provides support to the Africa-EU Strategic Partnership and is the first EU programme in development and cooperation that covers Africa as a whole. It supports projects with a trans-regional, continental or global added value in areas of shared interest and offers new possibilities for the EU and Africa to work together.

Currently, the Pan-African Programme constitutes one of the main EU financial instruments for the implementation of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy. The programme is funded under the EU's Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI) with a budget of EUR 845 million for the period 2014-2020.

In May 2018, the second phase of the Pan-African Programme was launched for the period 2018-2020 with an amount of EUR 400 million. Contributing to the implementation of the strategic priorities identified at the 5th AU-EU Summit 2017, the programme focuses on three key areas of cooperation between Africa and the EU:

• Political dialogue and pan-African governance;

• Education and skills, research and technology; • Continental economic integration. The added value of the Pan-African programme builds on 3 main criteria:

• The cross-regional, continental or global dimension of projects and programmes in areas ranging from sustainable agriculture and environment to higher education, ICT and research.

• The joint interest of Africa and the EU and therefore the clear link with the Strategic Partnership.

• The financial complementarity with other instruments such as the European Development Fund (EDF), the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) and the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI) thematic programmes.

The following guiding principles apply to the identification of actions:

• Pan-African added value (subsidiarity) and complementarity with national, regional and thematic envelopes;


• Mutually beneficial cooperation and EU expertise/ comparative advantage; and alignment with the new policy agenda.

To find out more about the Pan-African programme you can visit: https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/regions/africa/continental-cooperation/pan-african-programme_en

4.3.2 The EU External Investment Plan The External Investment Plan (EIP) is a European Union initiative launched in 2017. It’s designed to attract more investment, in particular from businesses and private investors, into countries near the EU ('EU Neighbourhood') and in Africa. The plan is expected to leverage EUR 44 billion of investment through a European Union input of EUR 4.5 billion.

The Plan will do so by using public money to lower the risk of investing in key sectors like sustainable energy or lending to small businesses. In this way it aims to:

• Create jobs, raise living standards and reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals; • Support entrepreneurs and enable economies to grow;

• Help tackle some of the reasons why people leave their countries of origin in Africa and the EU Neighbourhood (migration).

The EU External Investment Plan aims to raise significant sustainable investments in Africa and European neighbourhood countries by 2020. From the EUR 44 billion announced, programmes already in the pipeline will mobilise EUR 37.1 billion of investments.

The EFSD is the financial arm of the EU External Investment Plan. It comprises:

• Blending - the EU's existing so-called 'blending' programmes (EUR 3 billion budget), which mix loans and grants;

• Guarantee - a dedicated financial guarantee (EUR 1.54 billion budget). The guarantee can attract financing for some of the initial capital ('equity' or 'risk capital') a project needs to get off the ground, or serve as a pledge (guarantee) to pay back part or all of a loan if a borrower incurs losses and default on it. In this way the guarantee reduces the risks involved in investment projects and can absorb potential losses. For example, in renewable energy projects, it can help to alleviate short-term liquidity problems and this way encourage investors to get on board.

The EFSD guarantee has several priority areas. So far, the EU has allocated funds to support 28 guarantee tools (programmes) across these areas:


An example of the actions implemented under the EFSD is the NASIRA Risk-Sharing Facility. The facility is expected to use a total of EUR 75 million of EU funds to leverage up to EUR 750 million of investments for entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa and the EU's southern neighbourhood. The facility is expected to benefit those who usually struggle to access affordable loans, such as small and medium sized enterprises, internally displaced people, refugees, returnees, women and young people.

For more information on the EU External Investment Plan you can visit: https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/policies/financing-development/eip_en

4.3.3 Africa Investment Platform The main purpose of Africa Investment Platform is to support sustainable growth in Africa. It aims at fostering investments which will have a positive impact on the socio-economic development such as infrastructures in transport, communication, water, energy as well as agriculture and private sector development, in particular SME's.

In September 2017, the Africa Investment Facility became an integral part of the European Fund for Sustainable Development (EFSD) as the Africa Investment Platform (AIP). The EFSD is the first pillar of the EU’s External Investment Plan.

The AIP an innovative financial mechanism that combines grants (non-refundable financial contributions from the European Union) with other resources such as loans from Development Finance Institutions in order to leverage additional financing for development and increase the impact of EU aid; private financing.

Similarly to the other EU blending facilities (e.g. Latin American Investment Facility), the AIP acts as a catalyst to pool resources and improve the coordination and coherence of donor actions, thus conforming to the principles of ownership, partnership and shared responsibilities set out in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the subsequent Accra Agenda for Action and Busan Partnership Agreement.

Resources can be made available from the different EU financing instruments (EDF and DCI), in coherence with the priorities established in the EDF Regional Indicative Programme, relevant EDF national indicative programmes, the intra-ACP programmes as well as the Pan-African Indicative programme. AIP interventions are meant to focus on the following sectors: energy, agriculture, transport, environment, water and sanitation, climate change, SMEs, information and communication technologies (ICT) and social services, support to private sector development, in particular Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

AIP support is provided through:

• Investment grants;

• Technical assistance; • Risk capital and other risk sharing instruments. The final beneficiaries of the AIP are intended to be the partner countries, either directly or indirectly through their central, regional and local administrations or public or semi-public institutions. Other final beneficiaries can be the private sector and in particular households and SMEs for categories of operations dedicated to the private sector development.


The AIP sets up partnerships, pooling grant resources from the EU and using them to leverage loans from multilateral and bilateral European Finance Institutions as well as from regional and multilateral Development Banks. These resources can often be pooled together with contributions from partner countries and beneficiary institutions in Africa.

4.3.4 ACP-EU Programme to strengthen Research and Innovation capacity in ACP countries

The Cotonou partnership funds programmes benefiting numerous, or all, Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States. Known as ‘intra-ACP cooperation’, this complements national and regional programmes financed by Europaid, addressing challenges shared by ACP States. It is based on the principle of subsidiarity – implemented when activities at national and/or regional levels would be less effective. A EUR 2.7 billion sum was earmarked for intra-ACP cooperation 2008-13, amounting to 12% of the 10th European Development Fund’s (EDF) overall budget.

Intra-ACP funding is meant to:

• Helping ACP countries protect themselves against international threats through participation in global initiatives in the areas of health, including the fight against the main poverty-related diseases;

• Help ACP states protect themselves against external shocks caused by climate change and environmental factors and is promoting integration among ACP countries. EU funding is also directed to higher education, cultural exchanges, research, infrastructure as well projects that promote mobility between countries policy and boost trade;

• Support integration through peace-building activities, institutional capacity building for the African Union and is assisting the development of strategies to address shared challenges, notably in the fields of agriculture and rural development.

In the framework of its cooperation with the ACP region, the EU has launched the ACP-EU programme to strengthen research and innovation capacity in ACP countries. This programme is designed to contribute to the ambitions of the European Consensus on Development which states that "[…] The EU and its Member States will promote the application of other means of implementation, including capacity building, science, technology and innovation”; and that they will “will continue investing on research and development in and for developing countries, including enhancing national innovation systems […]".

The programme builds on four consecutive capacity building programmes which have been implemented since 2006, and which have since then, supported more than 200 academic and research institutions across all ACP countries, and their collaboration and exchanges with European counterparts.

The rationale underpinning the programme can be summarized as follows:

• New technologies, knowledge and innovations are powerful drivers of inclusive and sustainable socio-economic development.

• All ACP countries are engaging in innovation dynamics and can be effectively supported through differentiated approaches.


• Investments in Research & Innovation (R&I) capability are likely to pay a high dividend if embedded in an effective innovation eco-system, including opportunities for collaboration between all actors of the innovation value chain, and combined with efforts to constitute a critical mass of skilled people.

As compared to its predecessors, the current ACP R&I programme is designed to generate a more structuring effect on the innovation ecosystems and capabilities of ACP countries, by inducing change at interlocking levels: policy development, knowledge transfer, and capacity of research and innovation stakeholders. As such, the programme is built upon three interlocking pillars and actions which are presented in the following table.

ACP-EU R&I programme pillar

Objective Opportunities

ACP innovation fund

Foster a conducive R&I environment across ACP countries by strengthening capacities on key enabling dimensions

Call for Proposals (EUR ±50 million), grants with primary objective to re-distribute funding to third parties on a regional basis (i.e. six ACP Regions)

ACP research and innovation hub

Facilitate access to, sharing and transfer of, information and knowledge on initiatives, mechanisms, approaches and good practices

Web-based instrument operating as a platform for the dissemination of results and knowledge produced by the initiatives developed by the Policy Support Facility and the Innovation Fund (and eventually previous STI/Research projects), and for leveraging existing channels of knowledge sharing

ACP Policy Support Facility

Enhance the quality of R&I policies and systems

• Demand-driven support, providing high-quality expertise in response to specific requests formulated by Research, Innovation and Higher Education public authorities in ACP countries

• Expertise adapted to the country/region context and needs, and to the different levels of development of the innovation ecosystem

• Peer-to-peer approaches, South-South and triangular North-South-South cooperation


5 Conclusions

As illustrated in the handbook, the European Union and its different branches of government, have developed a series of programmes and support instruments which are open to participation on behalf of the African private sector. While some of these instruments specifically start-ups and entrepreneurs (i.e. Boost Africa), others a more generally open to the business community, regardless of the size and age of the company. In addition, while some of these instruments specifically seek to strengthen collaboration between EU and African stakeholders (e.g. Horizon2020), others only seek so strengthen local innovation eco-systems, whether it’s from a policy perspective, or by directly providing financial support and technical assistance to companies and other innovation eco-system stakeholders (ACP-EU R&I programme).

In order to reap the benefits from these opportunities, African companies need to be prepared and actively involved in seeking out the most appropriate schemes for their needs. By doing so, companies will be benefit from the palette of existing opportunities, but also from the wave of additional financing which is headed to the region from the other side of the Mediterranean. This handbook seeks to help companies seeking to implement growth and development projects, with the support of European instruments. Readers are encouraged to consult the additional resources which have been developed by the Africa Europe Innovation Partnership which provide additional guidance on these and other opportunities specifically designed to strengthen innovation in the African region.

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Documents

Handbook on European funding opportunities for African start...(e.g. start-ups, firms, multinationals) who are interested in engaging in research, development and innovation activities