African Union 2022 Innovating Education in Africa Expo – Call for Submissions for African Entrepreneurs

The advent of COVID-19 has exacerbated challenges in Africa’s education system and reinforces the need for fit for context, innovative and scalable solutions in education. DOTSS[1] provides an approach for reorienting Africa’s education and training systems to meet the knowledge, competencies, skills, innovation and creativity required to nurture African core values and promote sustainable development at the national, sub-regional and continental levels as espoused in CESA.

IEA Call

The AU Innovating Education in Africa Call invites innovators to propose new and practical education innovations with the potential for sustainability, scalability and replication on a wide scale. We are looking to mobilize continental education innovators to rethink solutions that will help address education and skills development challenges in Africa especially as countries emerge from COVID-19.

We aim to create change by:

• Incentivizing innovators to identify major education and skills development challenges in Africa;
• Sourcing innovative ideas and solutions to those challenges for adoption replication and scale-up; and
• Encouraging innovation partnerships involving education and training institutions, governments and other key stakeholders.

• Table of Content
• About African Union
• Innovating Education in Africa Expo
• Aim and Benefits of Innovating Education in Africa Expo
• Requirements for Innovating Education in Africa Expo Qualification
• Application Deadline
• How to Apply

About African Union

The African Union (AU) is a continental body consisting of the 55 member states that make up the countries of the African Continent. It was officially launched in 2002 as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU, 1963-1999). The main objectives of the OAU were to rid the continent of the remaining vestiges of colonisation and apartheid; to promote unity and solidarity amongst African States; to coordinate and intensify cooperation for development; to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Member States and to promote international cooperation... read more... continue reading

Innovating Education in Africa Expo

Aim and Benefits of Innovating Education in Africa Expo

Successful applicants will benefit from one or more of the following:

• Receive grants of up to 100,000 USD to implement pilot projects in collaboration with AU Member States.
• Promotion and publicity of Innovation to AU Member States and Development Partners, including publication in the Africa Education Innovations Handbook 2021 and future invitation to participate in AU events and programs.
• Certificate of recognition from the African Union Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation.

Requirements for Innovating Education in Africa Expo Qualification

Applications will be accepted from citizens of AU Member States leading an organisation that meets the following criteria.

• Successfully implementing an education innovation in one or more AU Member States with verifiable outcomes. An education innovation refers to a product or service being offered by an organisation which uses a relatively distinct approach—with respect to the African context—in addressing challenges in the education system.
• Legally registered and licensed to operate in an AU Member State.
• Directly responsible for the implementation and management of the innovation, i.e., not acting as an intermediary.

Application Deadline

How to Apply

Submissions should be made online in English or French at www.edu-au.org/submit-innovation, with the following information.

• Brief statement of the challenge being addressed (100 words).
• Description of the innovation, specifically how it functions, the implementation approach, and revenue model (500 words).
• Report of the performance and outcomes of the innovation (500 words).
• Documentation of business registration and license of operation.

Please note that no more than one innovation may be submitted by an organisation; failure to comply will lead to disqualification. Recipients of grants under the IEA programme in the past are not eligible to apply.

Deadline for submissions: 15 September 2022 by 23:00 (GMT+3). Enquiries may be sent to [email protected].

For more details, visit African Union website.