Call for Expressions of interest: Apply Now for the AEIP Thematic Challenges to Drive Innovation Through Africa-Europe Collaboration

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Closing Date: 14 January 2026

Call for Expressions of interest: Apply Now for the AEIP Thematic Challenges to Drive Innovation Through Africa-Europe Collaboration

The Africa-Europe Innovation Platform (AEIP) Thematic Challenges have officially launched, bringing together innovators from Africa and Europe to co-create solutions to shared societal challenges. The first challenge focuses on the Green Transition, including renewable energy, circular economy, energy efficiency and sustainable agri-food systems.

Expressions of interest are open for startups, SMEs, researchers, students, corporates, policy-makers and civil-society actors, with strong encouragement for women and youth to apply. Selected participants will collaborate in cross-regional teams, receive tailored support and may present at the 2026 AEIP Stakeholder Meeting in Africa.

AEIP Thematic Challenge: Green Transition

The AEIP Thematic Challenges are a dynamic innovation initiative under the Africa-Europe Innovation Platform (AEIP) — designed to unite innovators, researchers, startups, policy makers, and stakeholders from Africa and Europe to co-create solutions for pressing societal challenges. These challenges provide an open, collaborative environment to develop innovative, scalable technologies and approaches that address priority themes such as climate resilience, sustainable development and digital transformation.

AEIP Thematic Challenges are focused innovation programmes that bring together diverse participants to solve predefined societal problems through partnership and creativity. Rather than functioning as traditional competitions, they operate as open innovation ecosystems where people from startups to researchers, corporates to policymakers and students to NGOs work together to ideate, prototype and propose impactful solutions.

Each challenge focuses on a specific theme aligned with the AU-EU Innovation Agenda, such as renewable energy, climate adaptation, public health, inclusive technologies, or digital economies. Teams collaborate across borders to integrate Africa and Europe perspectives and build solutions that can be scaled within and beyond both regions.

Who Can Participate?

Thematic Challenges are open to all stakeholders along the innovation value chain, including:

Startups and scale-ups
Innovators and entrepreneurs
Researchers and academics
Corporates and business support organisations
Policymakers and development actors
Civil society organisations
Students and youth innovators

This inclusive approach encourages ideas from all backgrounds and sectors, fostering rich collaboration and diverse problem-solvers. AEIP particularly encourages women and youth participation to ensure innovation reflects a wide range of perspectives and needs.

How the Thematic Challenges Work

The AEIP Thematic Challenge follows a structured process to maximize collaboration and impact:

Challenge Launch & Call for Participants
A call is opened for innovators to express interest in joining a specific challenge based on a predefined theme.
Participant Selection & Grouping
Selected individuals and organisations are grouped into teams with complementary skills and perspectives.
Co-Creation and Ideation
Teams work together to define approaches, brainstorm innovative ideas, and design solutions tailored to the challenge’s objectives.
Solution Development and Submission
Teams prototype or develop their proposed solution, which is then evaluated on criteria such as feasibility, scalability and impact.
Recognition and Stakeholder Engagement
Winning or standout teams are often showcased at major AEIP stakeholder events and may receive additional support for scaling their solutions.

What Themes Do AEIP Challenges Address?

The first wave of Thematic Challenges focuses on broad, high-impact development priorities — for example:

Green Transition: Supporting climate change mitigation and adaptation through solutions in areas such as sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, circular economy and resource efficiency.

Future challenges will continue responding to the AU-EU Innovation Agenda’s priority areas, including public health, digital innovation, science capacities, and technology diffusion.

The AEIP Thematic Challenge offer a unique, inclusive platform for innovators, researchers and institutions to co-tackle societal challenges with real-world relevance. By fostering cross-border cooperation between Africa and Europe, these challenges support sustainable innovation and collaborative problem-solving — helping build solutions that can scale and be adapted across contine.

Whether you’re a startup founder, policy advocate, researcher, student or community leader, participating in AEIP Thematic Challenges can sharpen your innovation skills, increase your network, and amplify your impact on issues that matter most.