Policy: Launch of New EU-Africa Innovation Agenda

New joint agenda to transform and increase the innovative capacities and achievements of European and African researchers and innovators.

The African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU) have adopted the new joint AU-EU Innovation Agenda, which aims to transform and increase the innovative capacities and achievements of European and African researchers and innovators into tangible outputs, such as products, services, businesses and jobs.

The AU-EU Innovation Agenda will represent the mainstay of the cooperation on Science, Technology and Innovation between Africa and Europe, for the next decade. It includes four objectives, with short-, medium- and long-term actions, grouped according to the priority areas of AU-EU Cooperation in Research and Innovation (R&I): Public Health; Green Transition; Innovation and Technology; and Capacities for Science, in addition to cross-cutting issues.

AU and EU Ministers of R&I will meet in 2024 to review progress towards the implementation.

Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age, said: “The Innovation Agenda will represent the backbone of our cooperation supporting research and innovation actions with Africa. It aims to create tangible positive impact on the ground, such as tools for agricultural use, climate services and food systems transformation. Alongside cutting-edge medicines, biotechnologies and diagnostics.”

Prof. Mohamed Belhocine, Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology, and Innovation, African Union Commission said: “Research and Innovation endeavours are to be translated into actual products, services, businesses and jobs thereby developing a long-term sustainable AU-EU cooperation model.”