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Research and innovation
News article29 November 2022Directorate-General for Research and Innovation

AU-EU Innovation Agenda stakeholder event

On 23 and 24 November, the European Commission organised together with the African Union Commission, the AU-EU Innovation Agenda Stakeholder Event in Nairobi. The work on the AU-EU Innovation Agenda is a follow-up to the EU-AU R&I Ministerial meeting held in July 2020 and the acknowledgement received at the AU-EU Summit in February 2022. In this context, an online stakeholder consultation was held between February and June, and the results were published in a report in October. The Nairobi event closed the stakeholders consultation.

Over 500 stakeholders from AU and EU governments ( universities, research organisations, SMEs, and start-ups) in the priority sectors of the Agenda (public health, food security, climate change and sustainable energy, skills development and mobility) discussed the needs and actions that may be missing from the current version of the AU-EU Innovation Agenda. This event facilitated the co-creating of theimplementation plan for the AU-EU Innovation Agenda, which should bring together existing and new EU, AU, national and stakeholder initiatives. The final version of the AU-EU Innovation Agenda is expected to be adopted at the EU-AU R&I Ministerial in June 2023, which will be hosted by EU Commissioner Mariya Gabriel and AU Commissioner Mohamed Belhocine.

The second day of the event focussed on capacity building and trainings on proposal preparation for Horizon Europe and ERASMUS+, on open science, and on Intellectual Property Rights. Information sessions on the Africa Initiative calls in Horizon Europe, support from EURAXESS in Africa and ERASMUS+ also took place. A match-making sessionprovided EU and AU innovators, technology hubs and incubators with the opportunity to showcase their innovations and to potential investors. 39 innovators and 10 champions/incubators/hubs pitched on stage, amounting to a total of eight African nationalities and three European nationalities. Projects showcased solutions across different areas of the AU-EU cooperation in Research & Innovation: from public health to green transition, from education to water management, from mobility to sustainable fashion. The session was opened by recorded pitches by two groups of secondary school pupils from Greece and Ghana, winners of the Foodathon competition, demonstrating their innovations in the area of food security. In addition, the AU-EU Innovation Fair featuring projects’ posters, roll-ups and other exhibitions allowed for lively exchanges among innovators, investors and other stakeholders.

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EU-Africa cooperation in research and innovation

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Publication date
29 November 2022
Author
Directorate-General for Research and Innovation