Joint Innovation Facility for climate-tech innovations (Non-dilutive funding of 5000 – 250.000 EUR )

Deadline: 4^th August 2025

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

Benefits

Selected projects will benefit from:

• Non-dilutive funding of 5000 – 250.000 EUR through a milestone-based grant structure;
• Tailored support through the JIF Project Studio, including:

1. 1. Mentorship from seasoned experts and investors
   2. Access to toolkits, investment readiness support, and technical advisory
   3. Networking and peer learning opportunities across Africa and Europe.

• Strategic visibility, capacity strengthening, and alignment with the EU–Africa partnership goals and Agenda 2063

Eligibility

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.

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

Application Process: A Two-Stage Process

Stage 1: Prepare your application with the required details and required documents to be submitted.

Stage 2: Applications must be submitted electronically via the online application form and submit required documents via [email protected] email address.

The submission should include:

• Completed electronic application form;
• All supporting documents as per the eligibility and selection criteria.

The application to the Joint Innovation Facility is open from 17^thJuly 2025 to 4^th August 2025 via this application form and is structured in two stages,

Stage one will consists of the following:

a) Expression of Interest (EOI)

• Interested consortia projects are invited to submit an EOI outlining their project idea and demonstrating that they meet all eligibility criteria.
• Only applicants who fulfill the mandatory requirements will proceed to the next stage.
• If the applicant meets all the mandatory requirements and is selected through the evaluation process, they will proceed to the due diligence phase

b) Due Diligence

A structured due diligence process will be carried out to assess operational, financial, governance, and compliance capacity aligned to selection criteria.

Stage 2 will consist of the following:

a) Grant Proposal Submission

• Shortlisted applicants will be invited to submit a full grant proposal.
• The proposal requirements will be aligned with the eligibility criteria shared in the call documentation to ensure consistency and transparency.

b) Final Selection and Award

The final selection will assess the project’s alignment with the objectives of the joint innovation facility, compliance with the selection criteria, and the extent to which feedback from the due diligence process has been effectively incorporated.

For more information and application.