Finnish Foreign Ministry supports scaling of African‑European innovations

Finnish Foreign Ministry supports scaling of African-European innovations

The 2026 call for applications for the Joint Innovation Facility (JIF) funding is now open. JIF is designed to strengthen digital, climate-positive innovation activity. The funding will support the expansion of market-ready, digitally enabled innovations through cross-border partnerships.

The Joint Innovation Facility (JIF) is part of the Africa-Europe Digital Innovation Bridge (AEDIB 2.0) project. The project implements the European Union's Global Gateway strategy, supports innovation expertise in Africa and promotes cooperation between African and European actors. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is one of the donors to the AEDIB project.

Who can apply for JIF funding?

Funding is available for African-European consortia, in which an African private sector entity leads the project, and an EU-registered partner contributes knowledge, networks or research competence.

The consortium may consist of companies, entrepreneurship or innovation support organisations, research institutes or non-profit organisations.

The lead partner must be registered in one of the 14 priority countries, which are: Benin, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

What kind of projects are funded?

The projects must promote partnerships between African and European actors and support the scaling of digital and climate-positive innovations for new markets.

Funding is granted to projects that have a proven business model, demonstrate clear growth potential, use digital solutions, and are ready to enter the market. The projects must also demonstrate a clear climate-positive impact, such as reduce emissions or strengthen adaptation to climate change.

Selected consortia will receive non-dilutive funding of EUR 100,000 or 200,000.

In addition to funding, JIF offers tailored needs-based support, such as mentoring, technical advice and networking and peer learning opportunities between African and European partners.

JIF has been co-developed by Germany, Finland and the European Union, which also finance the instrument. The instrument is implemented by HAUS Finnish Institute of Public Management Ltd and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

Application period

The call for applications is open 10 February - 30 April 2026.
Applications are submitted in the programme's online service.

• Apply for funding: https://jif.grantplatform.com/
• See more detailed instructions for applying: https://bit.ly/JIF2026