FundingBox, the European Commission and GIZ are organising, together with DIHNET, a webinar about cooperation between Africa and the European Union on Innovation Ecosystems to discover potential collaborations and introduce the ecosystem to the new initiative “African European Digital Innovation Bridge (AEDIB)”. Numerous Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) have been launched in the European Union to provide support to companies in their digitisation pathway: they help them become more competitive, access technical expertise and experimentation, and get financial advise and skills development. In Africa there is a growing number of digital entrepreneurial intermediaries. The African Union’s Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa (2020-2030) emphasizes the need for further collaboration between stakeholders in order to develop a complete ecosystem.

EBN joins the AEDIB initiative which will strengthen a common African-European digital innovation ecosystem by supporting local digital innovation and start-up ecosystems in Africa and facilitating the collaboration between European and African DIHs. The AEDIB will establish African Digital Innovation Hubs by creating strong partnerships between stakeholders in innovation clusters of excellence along thematic, technological and entrepreneurial challenges.