Call for Expression of Interest: Joint Innovation Facility
Are you an African-led organization driving digital transformation or climate-positive innovation?
The Joint Innovation Facility (JIF) is your opportunity to scale solutions, access up to €250,000 in non-dilutive funding, and collaborate across continents.
Launched under the Africa-Europe Digital Innovation Bridge (AEDIB 2.0), and co-developed by the European Union, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, JIF accelerates Africa-Europe innovation partnerships for a more inclusive, sustainable, and tech-enabled future.
Eligibility
Innovative proposals
Joint project proposals from innovation consortia that:
- Consist of at least two partners forming a consortium collaborating across borders (Africa-EU or Different countries from Sub-Saharan Africa), led by an African entity;
- Are eager to advance digitally enabled innovations (with a preference for frontier technologies (e.g. AI-based, IoT, etc) in climate – mitigation, adaptation and resilience;
- Present tested solutions with proven or high potential for scaling and replication;
- Are grounded in local context, commercially viable, and regionally embedded;
- Are led by committed and capable teams, with a track record and technical skills required to scale the innovation;
- Prioritize gender responsiveness;
- Require strategic funding to accelerate their next phase of growth.
Click here to read more on the eligibility criteria
The Africa partner must be from 14 Africa project priority countries which are Benin, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
Focus areas
Climate Positive Impact
The proposed solution must demonstrate measurable positive impact in at least one of the following areas:
- Climate mitigation
- Climate adaptation and resilience
Who Can Apply?
- Small Growing Businesses (SGBs) and startups
- Larger companies
- Applied research organisations
- Digital Innovation hubs and Innovation Support Organisations
- Civil Society Organisations
- Startups (PreSeed or Seed stage)
- Public Sector Partners
Information session
2nd Info Session: Tuesday, 29 July 2025 15:00 – 16:30 EAT Link to the Information session