Explore resources, training materials, testimonials, video clips and more.
In order to best assist the needs of techhubs and entrepreneurs in Africa and Europe, the AEIP gatheres and continuously updates a list of more than +50 useful resources on topics such as European funding opportunities, techhub management and business models, innovative approaches to startup support and technology transfer.
The Africa-Europe Innovation Partnership fifth event (AEIP Event 5) integrated a new cohort of 11 African and 11 European tech hubs (cohort 2) that have yet to participate in any of the AEIP networking events. In addition, 9 (cohort 1) tech hubs (5 from Africa and 4 from Europe) were invited to this networking event due to their active involvement in the AEIP tech hub cleantech challenge as well as their continued engagement and collaborative activities with tech hubs in the network.
The goal of this networking event was to support participating tech hubs to internationalise faster and gain a deeper understanding of the innovation ecosystems in Africa or Europe, respectively. The programme focused on interactions between tech hub participants through joint plenaries and breakout sessions, with the AEIP team monitoring discussions and facilitating as needed. The tech hubs were matched to counterparts from the other region and placed in breakout rooms during the event in order for them to get to develop and outline envisaged collaborative activities they could collaborate on i.e., form soft-landing partnerships, exchange on best practices, apply for joint funding opportunities, and connect to startups from the other continent.
Following the launching of the H2020 Africa Green Deal call by the European Commission, the AEIP organised a series of webinars to enlighten innovation actors from Africa and Europe on the benefits of participating in a H2020 call as well as on the specifics of the Green Deal Africa Call.
The first webinar took place on 1st December 2020. It was attended by over 40 organisations, mostly from Africa. The webinar informed participants about the application procedure for the H2020 calls, advised on how to build a consortia and provided insights into specifics of the H2020 calls. The presentation of the Green Deal Africa call was given by two Senior Officials of the European commission: Dr. Piero Venturi, Science Counsellor to the African Union, Delegation of the European Union to the African Union; and Philippe Schild, European Commission, DG RTD.
Following the workshop series organised by the Africa Europe Innovation Partnership (AEIP) and VC4A on the 8th, 11th and 15th of June 2020 to African tech hubs, the attached material contains the presentations made by the different experts during the online workshops.
The training targeted African tech hubs that offer acceleration services, and sought to enhance the hubs capacities to offer sustainable and effective acceleration programs despite the covid-19 crisis. The objectives of the training included:
The WAZIHUB project, funded by the European Commission under H2020 program, was designed to exploit IoT potential and Big-Data technologies best-practices through the involvement of innovators. The project aims to enable the creation of a network of Open Hubs throughout Africa where:
1. Entrepreneurs and developers can be trained,
2. Innovative IoT technology solutions can be adapted,
3. New business can rise to match local service needs.
The second AEIP event was held on the 2nd - 5th December 2019 in Marseille, France. During that event the capacity upgrading training on building sustainable business models for tech hubs was provided.
Participants of the training gained practical insights in the following areas:
• Matching the tech hub support services with the entrepreneurs and startups’ needs over time
• Fundraising for tech hubs
• Sourcing projects and entrepreneurs
The booklet of Africa-Europe Innovation Partnership presents activities and importance of the initiative for both continents. It outlines the AEIP approach and innovation system strategy to build on the strongest potential of new partnerships and collaboration. Have a look at testimonies of participants and stakeholders involved! In order to access the booklet please download the file below.
enpact e.V. will run a new 8-month mentoring programme for technology businesses from Africa and Europe. The programme aims to strengthen technology focus and foster international partnerships between technology businesses from Africa and Europe.
It is another initiative under the Strategic Partnership Digital Africa (SPDA) - a network of the German development cooperation and over 200 European companies with the aim to initiate innovative public-private projects in African countries - funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and coordinated by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. The programme target group are businesses with a
special focus on the support of women, either directly (with special programmes targeting women as employees on all levels - especially in executive positions) or indirectly with products and services that are especially designed for women empowerment.
The programme offers coaching and mentoring for founders by international mentors to strengthen their business model, growth strategy, roadmap, international network and partnerships. 15 companies will be selected to participate in the programme, which will include:
The population boom in West African countries is bringing more and more young people into a labor market that cannot yet absorb them. Many of these young people are now turning to entrepreneurship as a source of employment. This, however, often takes the form of subsistence and informal entrepreneurship.
Unlike growth and innovative entrepreneurship, this form of entrepreneurship is not capable of generating sustainable jobs and therefore cannot act as an engine for economic development.
Innovative entrepreneurship is proven to be a determining factor of growth: it stimulates productivity, creates jobs and helps improve citizens’ quality of life. So-called ‘growth entrepreneurs’ are the drivers behind this innovation and they contribute to their countries’ economic and social development. As Joseph Schumpeter once said, ”innovation is the driving force of economic progress, and entrepreneurs are the agents of innovation.”
Academic paper on the Introduction to supporting entrepreneurs through the lenses of academic research. Article writen by Didier Chabaud, Karim Messeghem, Sylvie Sammut and available in French language only.
After encouraging the creation of companies based on the results of public research, the challenge for public authorities is now more to grow these companies to benefit the national economy from their high potential. This article examines the role that support can play in the growth of these businesses. It draws on the analysis of ten years of operation of a public incubator, Languedoc-Roussillon Incubation, to propose avenues for action. Article is available in French language only.
This contribution offers a modelization of the entrepreneurial accompanying relation with a focus on players'games and intersubjectivity which are constitutive elements of the accompanying relation. Critical configurations which restrict nascent entrepreneur's learning capability are described. The article is only available in French language.
Toolkit for Business Incubators in developing countries and training materials consisting of the following modules:
Analysis of the business incubator and their ecosystem.
Report concerning promotion of best practices for business incubators in growing new businesses. In particular, the report analyses which activities and services are of most added-value to startups.
One of the main deliverable of the Cleantech Incubation Europe (CIE) INTERREG IVC project is this handbook aiming to share best practices from the incubation of cleantech start-ups across Europe to foster entrepreneurship and the green economy.
Start-up Guide for Incubator Developers detailing issues faced by SMEs, reasons for business incubation and various models for business incubators.
