WEBINAR: EU support for cooperation with Africa on research, innovation and education

18 November 2020, AERAP, the Africa-Europe Science Platform, organised a briefing on EU support for cooperation with Africa on research, innovation and education for the next MFF period, 2021 to 2027. 

See the recording in the video at the bottom

In March 2020, the European Commission published its Communication Towards a comprehensive Strategy with Africa (18 pages), which sets out a new comprehensive EU strategy with Africa that will be built on five partnerships for green transition and energy access; digital transformation; sustainable growth and jobs; peace and governance, and migration and mobility.

The EU and the African Union (AU) are working on short-, medium-, and long-term Research and Innovation activities to address the human health impacts and the more far-reaching socio-economic effects of COVID-19. These are:

• Public health
• Green transition
• Innovation and technology
• Capacities for science

Introduction and welcome: Declan Kirrane AERAP Coordinator

Perspectives Africa-EU science and innovation cooperation

• Maria Cristina Russo @8:54 Director for International Cooperation in Research and Innovation, European Commission, Belgium
  "Under Horizon Europe there will be a transversal call for Scientific collaboration with Africa"
• Mahama Ouedraogo Director of Human Resources, Science and Technology Department, African Union Commission, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
• Daan du Toit Deputy Director-General: International Cooperation and Resources, Department of Science and Technology, South Africa
• Carlos Zorrinho MEP, Chair, Delegation to the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, European Parliament, Brussels
• Lora Borissova International Partnerships, Cabinet Commissioner Urpilainen, European Commission, Brussels - EU Africa Strategy

High-Level Policy Dialogue: Nienke Buisman DG Research and Innovation (RTD), European

Commission, Belgium

She referred in het presentation to InnovAfrica. This project was to improve FNS i) by integrating sustainable agriculture intensification systems, innovative institutional approaches with novel extension and advisory services, and ii) by enhancing capacity building and knowledge sharing in smallholder farming in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) through a strong EU-Africa Research and Innovation Partnership.

Key Area 1: Public Health

• Marcel Tanner High Representative for Europe, European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), Netherlands/South Africa
• Jan Marco Müller Science and Technology Advisor European External Action Service (EEAS), Belgium
• David McNair Executive Director, Global Policy, ONE.ORG
• Kurt Zatloukal Austria Node, Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure, Austria
• Rainer Fischer Perdue University and Aachen University, USA and Germany

Key Area 2: Green Transition (food, climate change and energy)

• Leonard Mizzi @2:27:00 DG Development Cooperation, European Commission, Belgium
• Constance Kann Director, Institutional Relations and Public Affairs. European Investment Bank, Brussels
• Murray Hitzman Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Applied Geosciences iCRAG, University College Dublin, Ireland
• Marta Iglesias Nutrition, Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA), DG Agriculture, European Commission, Belgium
• Ronald de Bruin European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST), Belgium

Portuguese Council Presidency Priorities: Maria João Pinto Counsellor at the Cabinet of the Minister of Science, Technology and High Education, Portugal

Key Area 3: Innovation and Technology

• Liliana Pasecini Inter-institutional, International Relations and Outreach, DG Joint Research Centre, European Commission, Belgium
• Jamal Mimouni President, African Astronomical Society (AfAS), Algeria
• Mark Edge Director of Collaborations for Developing Countries, Bayer
• Bonita da Swardt Programme Manager: Strategic Partnerships for Human Capital Development, South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO)

Strategic Forum on International Cooperation on Science and Technology (SFIC): Martina Hartl Department International Research Cooperation and Science Diplomacy, Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Research, Austria

Key Area 4: Capacities for Science

• Astrid-Christina Koch Copernicus and Galileo, DG Defence Industry and Space (DEFIS), European Commission, Belgium
• Pieter De Smet Galileo/EGNOS DG Defence Industry and Space (DEFIS), European Commission, Belgium
• Juan Miguel González-Aranda LifeWatch ERIC, EU-AFRICA Green Deal Collaboration on Biodiversity & Climate Change, Spain
• Chiara Ferrari The Square Kilometre Array Telescope (SKA), France
• Fiorella Perotto DG Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (EAC), European Commission, Belgium
• Yousef Torman Integrating Arab e-infrastructure in a Global Environment,(e-AGE), Jordan

Data and Regulation for STI

• Martha Phiri Director for Human Capital Youth and Skills Development, African Development Bank, Cote d’lvoire
• Denis Dembois DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (GROW), Belgium
• Arnaud Senn DG Communications Networks, Content and Technology, European Commission, Brussels
• Mei Lin Fung Convenor, Digital Cooperation and Diplomacy Network