About the project

Bridging Digital Innovation Ecosystems across Africa and Europe

The AEDIB|NET project

is the first step of a broader approach for the African–European collaboration on digitalisation and innovation. The project being launched under the broader political initiative AEDIB. Initiated by EU Member States (France, Belgium, and Germany) and the European Commission to the EC’s Digital 4 Development process (D4D).

Funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme and coordinated by GIZ in Germany, AEDIB|NET brings together a network of strong partners from the African and European innovation ecosystem with the ambition to:

Inspire

Inspire

the ecosystem actors by developing a supportive innovation policy framework for innovation, building capacity of marginalised groups and enhancing digital and entrepreneurship skills via Digital Entrepreneur Skills Academy.

Create

Digital Innovation by establishing African Digital Innovation Hubs, Digital Hub Lab, online marketplaces with virtual communities and investor networks. The ADIHs will focus on four topics: Climate Smart Agriculture, Smart Cities, Digital Trade and Clean Tech.

Create
Connect

Connect

start-ups, SMEs, DIHs, diaspora and others African and European ecosystem players in trans-continental partnerships to facilitate inter-continental collaboration and the creation of a common digital innovation ecosystem.

The AEDIB|NET project will establish ADIHs with 4 technological focuses, which have been pre-identified as digital innovation priority

CSA

Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) includes a range of proven and innovative practices that increase productivity, strengthen climate resilience and reduce agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Smart Cities

Cities and Communities of all sizes can become smart utilizing digital technologies to improve the quality of life of their citizens, harnessing ICT to absorb information and communicate with innovators and other communities.

Digital Trade

The prospects for digitally enabled trade in Africa can be of particular benefit to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), helping them connect with purchasers abroad and provide the supportive services to facilitate their exports, including simplified payments and logistics.

Clean Tech

A cooperation between African and European digital innovation ecosystems to address global warming and the preservation of our natural environments can result in very important outcomes, and a specially interesting area for the development of digital innovations and solutions.