Call for Applications: Joint Innovation Facility Initiative

The Joint Innovation Facility (JIF) is a new Africa-Europe initiative designed to accelerate innovation, foster meaningful collaboration across ecosystems on the African continent and cross-continental with Europe to scale up transformative solutions that address shared challenges—particularly those related to the digital transformation and the green transition.

Launched under the forthcoming Africa-Europe Digital Innovation Bridge (AEDIB 2.0) – a forthcoming project under the EU’s Global Gateway Africa-Europe Investment package – JIF is co-developed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland and the European Union (EU). It is jointly implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and Finnish Public Management Institute (HAUS), leveraging their combined experience in international cooperation, innovation support and experience in strengthening innovation ecosystems.

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
  • Key sectors
    • Blue Tech, Mobility, Energy & Smart Cities

Why Join?

• Despite the abundance of talent and innovation across Africa and Europe, opportunities for collaboration, joint action and innovation remain limited.
• The JIF drives systemic change by:
  • Empowering local and global leadership: African partners lead innovation consortia, ensuring ownership and long-term impact;
  • Harnessing the power of digital innovation partnerships across borders in Africa and between Africa and Europe;
  • Addressing global challenges: State-of-the-Art solutions focus on digital transformation climate-positive outcomes and societal inclusion;
  • Scaling impact: Solutions are designed to be regionally embedded, replicable and commercially viable.

Benefits

• Selected projects will benefit from:
  • Non-dilutive funding of 100.000 – 250.000 EUR through a milestone-based grant structure;
  • Tailored support through the JIF Project Studio, including:
    • Mentorship from seasoned experts and investors
    • Access to toolkits, investment readiness support, and technical advisory
    • Networking and peer learning opportunities across Africa and Europe.
  • Strategic visibility, capacity strengthening, and alignment with the EU–Africa partnership goals and Agenda 2063

Who Can Apply?

• They invite joint collaboration projects led by African partners, consisting of:
  • 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

Eligibility Criteria

• Innovative proposals
  • They are inviting 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.
  • 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.

For more information, visit GIZ.