The SEADE project provides fundamental and tangible support services to the Research and Innovation (R&I) ecosystems of Europe (EU) and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), undertaking human-centred research, programme development/delivery, and pilot actions in four SSA target regions to support increased cooperation. These actions will focus on two key areas identified as challenges for this ecosystem: digital transformation and international collaboration. Alongside the programme development, integration of legacy elements from current or newly closed initiatives working in the EU-SSA R&I, such as the ICT-58 projects funded under Horizon 2020, will provide the R&I in Digital (R&IID) actors across both continents with a comprehensive resource toolkit, made available within the legacy platform of the ENRICH in Africa (EiA) project. With this approach SEADE aims to provide a seamless ‘Route-to-Market’ pathway for the R&I actors in transferring research knowledge into market success, thus supporting the development of economic growth, and facilitate job market boosting. By founding the actions of SEADE in a human-centred approach, the activities can be developed through user-, as well as market-driven research, ensuring the services developed are relevant and required by the target users, and therefore more likely to be successful. The delivery of these new services within 4 pilot regions (Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa), will enable the SEADE consortium to set measurable criteria for the assessment of such actions within different cultural, political, and financial ecosystems. This data will enable SEADE to produce key policy positioning papers and reports, which can support the development of further R&IID targeted actions in other African regions. The EU and SSA actors of SEADE will be engaged via the wealth of networks available within the consortium partnership, enabling a strong dissemination and communication strategy for the project to be undertaken from the start.

The AEIP builds a network of African and European stakeholders strengthening links between innovation ecosystems in an inclusive and collaborative manner, ensuring equal benefits. The AEIP will stimulate collaboration among stakeholders and institutions implementing other programmes, contributing to mutually beneficial partnerships. The focus will lie on launching new activities (linked to capacity-building, mobility opportunities, knowledge production and transfer, investment readiness and access to finance) based on an assessment of the needs of all target groups, including researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs, incubators/accelerators, civil society, women and youth. These will be activated through a combination of virtual outreach and in-person stakeholder meetings as a forum for discussion. Sustainability will be built into the AEIP from the start by making sure that new activities are linked up and designed in such a way that they can be carried forward by AEIP members after the end of the Action. We aim to grow the AEIP further into a network of networks acting as a hub for the implementation of the short-term actions of the AU-EU Innovation Agenda, reinforcing existing initiatives rather than duplicating them. The Action has been designed to maximise societal, economic, and scientific impact by centring the Platform at the core as a forum where stakeholders convene for focussed and structured innovation cooperation. With the networks leveraged by the consortium partners and multiplier effect, our outcomes and impacts will be scalable. The AEIP will support the Agenda’s objective to strengthen Research and Innovation cooperation between the African and European Union, maximising the impact of funding and reinforcing interconnected innovation ecosystems, thus contributing to sustainable and inclusive development, economic growth and job creation.