ENRICH in Africa (EiA)

Recent years have revealed an increased focus and interest with regards to the innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems across Africa. Such focus has covered the academic, political, and of course business environment, looking to enhance cultural, technological, and economic advantages. The European Union (EU), through the European Commission (EC) and alongside the African Union (AU) and individual European and African organisations, have been active in designing several initiatives to best explore the current situation and investment requirements needed to capitalise on opportunities that exist, for the mutual benefit of African and European countries.  

In the frame of these initiatives, the Horizon 2020 project ENRICH in Africa (EiA), coordinated by Steinbeis Europa Zentrum , developed an online platform for delivering services to incubators and accelerators and supporting the EU-African Innovation Community. The unique project consortium consisted of a variety of partners renowned in the field, providing access to both regions as well as contributing an already extensive set of existing services. The project extended the existing ENRICH network, also present in the USA, Brazil and China, together with the additional India network which kicked off at the end of 2020.

During the project, 163 start-ups were supported through accelerator services. 25 start-ups participated in soft landing programmes and strengthened their internationalisation. Since 2020, 45 African start-ups have been introduced to the best 35 African investors on the continent and pitched to more than 150 international investors from Europe, Africa, North America, the Middle East and Asia. There were 250 investor enquiries for start-ups. Five companies were able to secure up to 7.5 million US dollars.

In addition to coordinating the project, Steinbeis Europa Zentrum also oversaw the set-up of the ENRICH in Africa Center and business operationalisation and was responsible for the exploitation of project results, ensuring sustainability of the EiA Centre after project end.  

The ENRICH in Africa Center (EiA Center) was founded in November 2022 as part of the ENRICH in Africa project in Nairobi, Kenya. The centre brings together the European and African innovation ecosystems.

Link: Partnerships & Networks - Steinbeis EN (steinbeis-europa.de)

Further information:

• Project duration: 01/2021 – 06/2024
• Participating countries: Austria, Belgium, Germany, France, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Portugal, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe
• ENRICH in Africa received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101004709.

Science Business article 16.04.2024

The Ecosystem: Africa and Europe connect on innovation | Science|Business (sciencebusiness.net)