As part of its start-up activities, PRICNAC (Promotion of Research, Innovation and Digital Culture in Central Africa) is about to launch a programme of micro-projects to be implemented by local networks and which fall within its objectives and those of the ACP Innovation Fund. These micro-projects will be supported by a grant amounting to a maximum of EUR 155,000 per micro-project over 10 to 14 months. They will interrelate and, at the end of their implementation, become part of the larger PRICNAC network.

 

The forthcoming call for proposals is aimed at the following groups: higher education institutions; secondary education institutions; research centres/research networks; multinational private companies; SMEs; national public administrations; local public administrations; chambers of commerce; NGOs and associations.To qualify for this call, micro-projects must meet the following specific objectives.

 

• Reinforce human capital in Central Africa, through a regional platform for training, collaboration and networking;
• Better connect the various stakeholders involved in the innovation and research ecosystem in the region in order to generate sustainable cooperation;
• Contribute to regional integration by supporting Central African countries with greater research and innovation needs and more constraining structural circumstances;
• Strengthen existing AUF, AAU, CAMES and REIFAC programmes in Central Africa which aim to improve entrepreneurship capacity and build new bottom-up initiatives to promote the role of educational institutions in innovation ecosystems;
• Create synergies with or between existing programmes and projects, both those of the EU (in particular in the context of the Africa-EU partnership) and of other international institutions (World Bank, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, UNCTAD, etc.).

 

CThese micro-projects should be based on the Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3) logic. The maximum grant available per micro-project is €155,000 for 10 to 14 months. In July, a series of activities will be organised to support the potential applicants to the call for proposals for micro projects:

 

• Information days in each country of the Central African region to present the projects to the potential targets and provide technical details on the call for proposals. They are organised by the AUF digital campuses both face to face and online;
• An information webinar on the concrete instructions related to the preparation of proposals and the expectations;
• A webinar for potential beneficiaries based on the Smart Specialisation Strategies (3S) which should underpin the proposals.

 

Calendrier

This announcement was first published on the AUF website