AU-EU Partnership: Share your views on the joint AU-EU Innovation Agenda !

The aim of this online public consultation is to seek input and feedback from African and European citizens on the objectives and proposed actions of the Innovation Agenda. This online survey will be available until May 13th, 2022 

The Agenda targets to be designed and implemented in response to current and future needs and ultimately maximise chances to provide for sustainable and inclusive growth in both Africa and Europe.

ACCESS THE SURVEY

https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/IAPublicConsultation 

Please read the reference document before starting (AU-EU Innovation Agenda - Working document) AU-EU_IA_Working_document_14_February_2022.pdf

BACKGROUND

Strengthening Research and Innovation (R&I) cooperation between the African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU) is a joint key priority. 

The first R&I Ministerial Meeting of the AU-EU High-Level Policy Dialogue (HLPD) on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), held in July 2020, agreed to focus R&I cooperation efforts in four thematic areas, namely: (i) Public Health, (ii) Green transition, (iii) Innovation & Technology, and (iv) Capacities for Science. 

On this occasion, AU and EU Ministers acknowledged the enormous growth potential of innovation ecosystems in both Africa and Europe, and highlighted, at the same time, the need for better translating R&I efforts into accrued business and employment opportunities. 

Ministers therefore agreed to start developing a joint AU-EU Innovation Agenda that proposes specific objectives with short-, medium- to long-term actions for all four HLPD priority areas. 

Following a very positive reception of a working version of the Agenda by a meeting of senior officials of the AU-EU HLPD held on 27 January 2022, the work on the Agenda is expected to be acknowledged during the 6th AU-EU Summit 2022 of Heads of State and Governments, on 17 and 18 February 2022.

The outcome of this public consultation will be summarised and communicated in a dedicated report, foreseen to be published in the second half of 2022. 

The Survey comprises 2 parts. The part 1 is on information about the respondents, the part 2 deals is meant to gather respondents' feedback about the different chapters of the innovation agenda: objectives, policy, gaps and needs, proposed actions, actors and stakeholders, and impacts. 

 

THE PARADIGM SHIFT IN EU’S COLLABORATION WITH HE IN AFRICA

A post published on 29/11/2021 by the site "University World News" quotes Nico Cloete of the Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology (CREST), Stellenbosch University, South Africa: 

"The new Africa strategy of the EU marks a fundamental shift from aid to strategic collaboration. [...] In this new approach both the EU and AU are realising that development is not ‘bottom up’ or driven by individuals but depends on collaboration between excellent science, politics, and socio-economic actors (public and private), and that collaboration must connect to both institutional and individual development".

"Mr. Cloete also points that there is an emergent interest in the development of clusters of excellence, and research at these African centres or clusters of excellence is aligning with AU-EU priorities; among them Good Governance, Peace and Security, Migration Mobility and Overcoming Discrimination, Digital Transformations, the Green Deal, Blue (Marine) Economy and Energy Transitions...

The post also cites the Professor Catherine Ngila, the acting executive director of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS): "Africa spends about 0.45% of its GDP on research and development – significantly less than the global average of 1.7% and the AU target of 1% – and also that Africa has fewer than 100 researchers per million people, 10 times less than the global average of 1100 per million. “Empowered researchers will be able to implement the AU agenda,” she said. 

Read the whole post

More

The Africa-EU Partnership, https://ec.europa.eu/international-partnerships/africa-eu-partnership_en


Source

The European Commission