The ONEPlanET project aims to develop a common nexus modelling framework to simulate and evaluate pathways to define a more sustainable future in Africa through the deployment of renewable energy infrastructure. In this way, it will be possible to stimulate a green energy transition in the continent as well as a decarbonization of existing energy plants. The ONEPlanET model will be tailored to the needs of different stakeholders and end-users (public and private actors, policy and decision-makers, experts, and citizens) and will be totally open source to stimulate its future upgrades. The model will include information on Water, Energy, Food (WEF) and interlinkages with other sectors as Economy, Ecosystems, Society, Climate and Land for delivering a multi-sectoral assessment consistent with socio-economic and climate scenarios. The ONEPlanET modelling approach will integrate Earth Observation data (e.g., Copernicus, ESA or GEOSS), statistical data and information from basins to national and regional, via three representative case studies in the Songwe (Malawi/Tanzania), Inkomati-Usuthu (South Africa) and Niger (Nigeria) river basins, which show different types of basins and socio-ecological systems. ONEPlanET will help to better understand the interactions between Nexus sectors to deliver sound technical and policy recommendations towards the implementation of energy infrastructure to build a more climate neutral and resilient society.

The African Union's Science, Technology, and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA-2024) positions science, technology, and innovation as fundamental drivers of Africa’s socio-economic development and growth. It emphasizes the need to strengthen three main pillars: 1) Building/upgrading Research Infrastructures (RI), 2) Enhancing professional and technical competencies, and 3) Promoting entrepreneurship and innovation. It also highlights the importance of fostering collaboration among African countries and establishing partnerships with international stakeholders. ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) is identified as a critical priority sector. Areas such as computer science, telecommunications, cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence, machine learning, security, and IoT offer potential for creating new knowledge, research capacities, and industries that address African and global challenges. DIGITAfrica aims to lay the foundations of a pan-African comprehensive RI in Digital Sciences, which will have a transformative impact on AU-EU shared R&I, as well as innovative education and training. DIGITAfrica will prepare the transformation of this partnership into a sustained research initiative in common strategic fields. Drawing from the expertise of partners across five AU countries, each with a strong background and representing diverse African contexts, alongside EU partners who coordinate the first two ESFRI DIGIT RIs dedicated to Digital Sciences, DIGITAfrica aims to exchange experiences, consult stakeholders, and foster dialogue to collaboratively develop a strategic approach. DIGITAfrica will serve as a catalyst for realizing the vision of a pan-African Digital RI and should become a cornerstone of Euro-African cooperation in R&I. The impact of DIGITAfrica will contribute to digitally transforming the African continent for prosperity and inclusivity, and to move with Europe towards a shared twin green and digital transition agenda.

The LEAP-RE programme aligns with and responds to the AU-EU high-level policies and specific objectives of the CCSE Roadmap. It seeks to create a long-term partnership of African and European stakeholders in a quadruple helix approach: government (programme owners and funding agencies), research and academia, private sector, and civil society. Impact will be sought by creating a framework, methodology, and cooperation model. The aim is to reduce fragmentation by aligning existing bilateral and multilateral frameworks. LEAP-RE establishes and jointly implements research, innovation, and capacity-building activities that respond to the Multi-Annual Roadmaps (MARs) developed in PRE-LEAP-RE. The programme opted for a large-scale, inclusive consortium of 96 partners from 34 countries and 2 international organisations, to ensure a broad thematic, geographical and stakeholder coverage, and to demonstrate the feasibility of the collaboration and build trust in view of a long-term partnership addressing the post-2025 period. LEAP-RE draws on the experience and partnership developed in PRE-LEAP-RE, which conceptualised and developed a framework for long-term, bi-regional cooperation in research, innovation, and capacity building in renewable energies. This partnership is further strengthened by previous collaboration between partners in other projects supporting the EU-Africa HLPD on STI, such as LEAP-Agri, ERAfrica, LEAP4FNSSA, RINEA, and CAAST-Net Plus. Furthermore, the proposal includes a number of R&I partners, 8 individual projects (formalised as Work Packages), which were chosen among expressions of interest received in late 2019.

Objectives: Provide currently unavailable geo-information on weather, water and climate for sub-Saharan Africa by enhancing satellite-based geo-data with innovative in situ sensors and developing related information services that answer needs of African stakeholders and the GEOSS community. Concept: A systematic feedback loop to reciprocally validate in situ measurements and satellite data in one integrated model. Over 500 in situ measurement stations using citizen science. State of the art advancement & Innovation potential: Building on and pushing further recent advances in sensor and communication technology to provide cheaper and more robust in situ measurements covering a wider area at a higher resolution in sub-Saharan Africa. Working with tech-hubs in Europe and Africa to feed creation and growth of European and African start-ups that develop sensors and geo-services, delivering complete value chains from sensor to customer-ready information delivery. Impact on call expectations: -Integration of in situ components into models based on GEOSS and Copernicus data -OGC compliant science-grade geo-data (atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere) delivered to GEOSS, incl. near-real time statistically characterized soil moisture data from Africa that can be used operationally (not currently available) and radar derived soil moisture measurements also available under cloudy conditions, or vegetation overgrowth -at least 20 new products for use in food, water, energy security, climate change and resilience to natural hazards validated and ready for large-scale implementation by consortium partners and external stakeholders -based on at least 10 innovative, cost efficient, robust, sensors, including fast neutron coun-ter, track¬ing of convective storms with consumer lightning sensors and accelerometer for tree-crown weighing -(Bio-degradable) sensors reduced to one tenth to one hundredth of their current price, extremely low-maintenance, use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.

WAZIHUB (in Swahili for Open-Hub) is an innovation project for Africa aiming to create an OpenHUB of IoT and Big data cutting-edge and African-grade solutions, co-designed by African people where these solutions can then be adapted to match local service needs. The vision of WAZIHUB is to exploit the huge IoT potential and share best practices for IoT and Cloud Technologies use, through the involvement of innovation communities and stakeholders at local district, regional, national and African level. The project goal is to iterate and extract value from spinning-off value-added IoT innovative services (e.g. monitoring, controlling, data analytics) based on the technologies developed in WAZIUP and FIWARE projects. In order to reach its vision, the project has the following objectives: • make the IoT, Cloud and Big Data technology more accessible through an easily replicated platform as a service using existing technologies and a smart village reference model for testing and validation • simplify the start-up creation process through setting up an accelerator program based on established experience • make the business model more accessible, enabling stakeholders to more easily catalyse around valid, innovative and tested propositions creating innovation ecosystems that also support sustainability WAZIHUB will exploit mature results already tested and ready for deployment, it will push for impact based on these through a set of ambitious and measurable KPIs in terms of creation of startups, IoT Regional Ecosystems, wide reach trough dissemination and Build Capacity to train, support and mentor targeted audience (startups, SMEs and developers). WAZIHUB also plans to expand the reach and use of WAZIUP technology to Southeast and Southern Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South-Africa, Mozambique) and at the same time to strengthen the activities and the strategic partnership with West Africa (Senegal, Ghana).