The European Commission has launched the 2025 Horizon Europe Work Programme, which includes the the so-called ‘Africa Initiative III’ that allocates €500.5 million across 24 topics promoting collaboration with African countries in different parts of the programme.
Building on the momentum of Africa Initiatives I & II, this third wave of support reflects the strong political commitment made under the AU-EU Innovation Agenda and contributes to the AU’s newly declared Decade of Education Transformation, Youth Skills Development and Innovation (2025–2034).
What is Africa Initiative III?
Africa Initiative III is a component of Horizon Europe’s international cooperation dimension, aiming to accelerate the translation of scientific knowledge into action around shared global challenges in Africa and Europe. It is not a standalone call, but a collection of topics that cut across numerous Clusters of Horizon Europe’s Pillar 2 and reflect mutual priorities in the following areas:
- Public Health (€50 million)
- Green Transition (€241 million)
- Innovation & Technology (€186.5 million)
- Capacities for Science (€3.5 million)
- Cross-cutting issues (€19.5 million)
These 24 topics are designed to involve African institutions and researchers (even if this is not specifically requested in the topic text), ensuring meaningful participation in consortia tackling shared challenges in areas such as climate change adaptation, clean energy, sustainable agriculture, digital innovation, science for policy, and equitable access to health.
Topics included in the Africa Initiative III
Cluster 1
- HORIZON-HLTH-2025-01-DISEASE-03: Development of antibodies and antibody-derived proteins for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases with epidemic potential
Cluster 2
- HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-04: Open strategic autonomy, economic and research security in EU foreign policy
- HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-HERITAGE-08: Bridging historical past and future potential through conservation, preservation, and adaptive use of Europe’s contentious and dissonant heritage
- HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-11: Migration and climate change: building resilience and enhancing sustainability
Cluster 3
- HORIZON-CL3-2025-01-DRS-02: Open topic on Improving disaster risk management and governance to ensure self-sufficiency and sustainability of operations in support of enhanced resilience
- HORIZON-CL3-2025-01-DRS-03: Open topic on testing / validating tools, technologies and data used in cross-border prevention, preparedness and responses to climate extreme and geological events and chemical, biological or radiological emergency threats
Cluster 4
- HORIZON-CL4-2025-04-HUMAN-08: GenAI for Africa
- HORIZON-CL4-INDUSTRY-2025-01-MATERIALS-61: Technologies for critical raw materials and strategic raw materials from end-of-life products (IA)
- HORIZON-CL4-INDUSTRY-2025-01-MATERIALS-62: Strategic Partnerships for Raw Materials: Innovative Approaches for sustainable production of Critical Raw Materials (IA)
- HORIZON-CL4-INDUSTRY-2025-01-MATERIALS-63: Innovative solutions for the sustainable production for Semiconductor raw materials (IA)
- HORIZON-CL4-INDUSTRY-2025-01-MATERIALS-64: EU Co-funded Partnership on raw materials for the green and digital transition (Co-funded partnership Raw Materials for the Green and Digital Transition)
Cluster 5
- HORIZON-CL5-2025-02-D2-03: Sustainable processing and refining of raw materials to produce battery grade Li-ion battery materials (Batt4EU Partnership)
- HORIZON-CL5-2025-02-D3-15: Building a Long-Term Africa Union (AU) and European Union (EU) Research and Innovation joint collaboration on Sustainable Renewable Energies
- HORIZON-CL5-2025-06-D1-06: Fostering equity and justice in climate policies – Societal Readiness Pilot
- HORIZON-CL5-2025-06-D1-07: Implementing the climate action pillar of the EU-African Union Partnership on Climate Change and Sustainable Energy
Cluster 6
- HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-BIODIV-01: Additional activities for the European Biodiversity Partnership: Biodiversa+
- HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-COMMUNITIES-03: Innovative solutions for resilient and climate-adapted coastal communities in the Atlantic
- HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-CLIMATE-05: Additional activities for the European Partnership Water Security for the Planet (Water4All)
- HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-FARM2FORK-03: Overcoming the barriers for scaling up circular water management in agriculture
- HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-FARM2FORK-05: Developing innovative phytosanitary measures for plant health – focus on systems approach for pest risk management
- HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-FARM2FORK-05-two-stage: Developing agroecology living labs and lighthouses for climate action under the Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA) partnership
- HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-FARM2FORK-16: Developing a joint AU-EU Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) supporting the Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA) partnership
- HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-FARM2FORK-17: Nutrition in emergency situations – Ready-to-use Supplementary Food (RUSF) and Ready-to-use Therapeutic Food (RUTF)
Missions
- HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-02-two-stage: Broadening the living labs approach for soil health in Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)