In this edition:

• EU-Africa High Level Policy Dialogue launches R&I partnership on FNSSA
• Stakeholder Forum on Research and Innovation Partnership on FNSSA
• “Facilitating Health Innovation in Africa” – ANDi’s 5-year strategic plan
• Call for action by African governments on aflatoxins
• DELTAS Africa awards €27 million to 4 African research teams
• EU-South Africa Marine Research Seminar
• Showcasing EU-Africa cooperation in Horizon 2020 – Energy research
• Upcoming events

EU-Africa High Level Policy Dialogue launches R&I partnership on FNSSA

4-5 April, Addis Ababa: the 3^rd senior officials’ meeting for the EU-Africa High Level Policy Dialogue (HLPD) on Science, Technology and Innovation continues to be the key platform for priority-setting and implementation, with the adoption of the roadmap towards the Research and Innovation Partnership on Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA) towards which the EC has already committed €47.5 million through the Horizon 2020 and African Union Research Grants. This milestone was endorsed in the College to College meetings of African and European Commissioners on 7 April.

See: http://ec.europa.eu/research/iscp/index.cfm?pg=africa

Stakeholder Forum on Research and Innovation Partnership on FNSSA

5-6 April, Addis Ababa: following the adoption of the roadmap towards the Research and Innovation Partnership on FNSSA mentioned above, the European Commission and African Union Commission jointly organised a stakeholder forum to present the roadmap to representatives of governments, industry, civil society and research organisations, receive their input and garner support for this endeavour.

See: http://africa-eu-sti-portal.net/en/863.php

“Facilitating Health Innovation in Africa” – ANDi 5-year strategic plan

11 April 2015, Addis Ababa: the African Network for Drugs and Diagnostics Innovation (ANDi) has published its 5-year strategic plan which strives for an open innovation and partnership model that will focus on: a) needs assessment and prioritization of technologies that can transform health care delivery in Africa, b) brokerage of partnerships to facilitate development and market access of such products, c) advocacy in support of sustainable implementation of such initiatives. Capacity building and knowledge management underpins all the activities in the strategy.

The ANDi strategic plan is available online: www.andi-africa.org.

Call for action by African governments on aflatoxins

12 April 2016, Accra: the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems and Nutrition and the African Union Commission’s (AUC) Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA) brought together African policymakers to discuss food safety issues, and in particular to inform and inspire leaders to tackle aflatoxins in African countries based on PACA’s research and knowledge. The AUC representative, Dr Janet Edeme, Director for Rural Economy and Agriculture, stated that “Aflatoxins are a developmental challenge to Africa that negatively impacts the economy, public health, nutrition, food security and trade of member states“. She further applauded partners committed to research and investment in this area and called for strengthened commitments and further action.

For details: http://glopan.org/news/high-level-roundtable-food-safety-and-aflatoxins-africa

PACA background paper on aflatoxins: www.aflatoxinpartnership.org/uploads/files/Aflatoxin%20Impacts%20Paper_0.pdf

DELTAS Africa awards €27 million to 4 African research teams

20 April 2016: the DELTAS Africa initiative, which aims to improve health in Africa through research, supported by funding from Wellcome Trust and DFID (UK), has awarded 4 grants of €6.75 million each:

• B. Bonfoh of the Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifique (CSRS) in Cote d’Ivoire for the African Science Partnership for Intervention Research Excellence (Afrique One-ASPIRE). It will focus on the ‘One Health’ concept that the health of animals, human and the environment is interconnected.
• Alex Ezeh of the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) in Kenya for the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa+ (CARTA+). The initiative seeks to train and produce postgraduates to lead world-class multidisciplinary research for public and population health.
• O. Gaye from Université Cheikh Anta Diop in Sénégal for Malaria Research Capacity Development in West and Central Africa (MACARD), an initiative to provide PhD and post-doctoral fellowships in research pertaining to malaria elimination with a special focus on supporting women in research.
• N. Sewankambo from Makerere University College of Health Sciences in Uganda for the Training Health Researchers into Vocational Excellence in East Africa (THRiVE-2) partnership. The initiative seeks to transform East African universities into world class research hubs for infectious diseases, neglected tropical disease, neonatal and reproductive health and non-communicable diseases.

DELTAS Africa, which has now funded 11 African research teams with a total of €77 million over an initial 5-year period, will soon be handed over to the Alliance for Accelerating Excellence Science in Africa (AESA).

For details: http://aasciences.ac.ke/updates/news/research-boost-creates-more-opportunities-for-african-scientists-/

EU-SA Marine Research Seminar

29 April, Cape Town: the Department of Science and Technology (DST) of South Africa hosted an European Commission delegation to showcase EU-South Africa collaborative projects in marine research and discuss enhanced cooperation in this domain. This event is part of series of meetings that week intended to further develop and direct EU-SA cooperation in research and innovation. Next year will mark the 20^th anniversary of the entry into force of the EU-SA Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement.

Marine research workshop: www.esastap.org.za/download/2016_mrs_invitation.pdf

EU-SA cooperation in research and innovation: http://ec.europa.eu/research/iscp/index.cfm?lg=en&pg=south_africa

Showcasing EU-Africa Cooperation in Horizon 2020:

There are now 158 participants from 26 African countries involved in 74 Horizon 2020 projects who will receive a total EU contribution of €27.8m (average: €176,000 per participant).

Here are some examples of Horizon 2020 projects in the field of energy research:

MinWaterCSP – Minimized water consumption in CSP* plants. (*concentrating solar power). Led by Kelvion Holding GmbH (Germany) with 12 partners, 4 African partners: IRESEN (Morocco), Kelvion Thermal Solutions, Notus Fan Engineering and Stellenbosch University (South Africa). EU grant: €5.9m. (http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/200380_en.html)

RAISELIFE – Raising the Lifetime of Functional Materials for Concentrated Solar Power Technology. Led by German Aerospace Centre (Germany) with 13 partners, incl. MASCIR (Morocco). EU grant: €9.3m. (http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/200815_en.html)

ORC-PLUS – Organic Rankine Cycle – Prototype Link to Unit Storage. Led by ENEA (Italy) with 7 partners, incl. Institut de Recherche en Energie Solaire et Energies Nouvelles – IRESEN (Morocco). EU grant: €6.3m. (http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/195491_en.html)

WASCOP – Water Saving for Solar Concentrated Power. Led by CEAEA (France) with 11 partners, incl. Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy. EU grant: €5.9m. (http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/199297_en.html)

SOLPART – High Temperature Solar-Heated Reactors for Industrial Production of Reactive Particulates. Led by CNRS (France) with 10 partners, incl. Université Cadi Ayyad (Morocco). EU grant: €4.4m. (http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/199297_en.html)

Upcoming events:

• 11-13 May, Durban: IST-Africa 2016 Conference (ist-africa.org/Conference2016/)
• 17 – 20 May, Umhlanga, South Africa: SARIMA conference (sarimaconference.co.za/)
• 27 June – 1 July, Stellenbosch (South Africa): 3^rd Workshop on Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine organised by African Academy of Sciences (AAS) & Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS) (http://aasciences.ac.ke/aas/en/updates/events/3rd-workshop-on-cbrm-/)
• 30 Aug.-2 Sept., Ispra (Italy): Africa-EU Evidence and Policy” seminar organised by EC Joint Research Centres (JRC) in coordination with the AUC (contact: JRC-knowledge@ec.europa.eu)

Contact: Stéphane Hogan, Counsellor for R&I, EU Delegation to AU: stephane.hogan@eeas.europa.eu

Website of EU Delegation to the African Union (AU): http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/african_union