The ENRICH in Africa Project Unveils the EiA Centre

The ENRICH in Africa project, which aims to bring together key players from the European and African innovation ecosystems to support and enhance them, unveiled the ENRICH in Africa Centre (EiA Centre) at the annual congress that took place in Nairobi, Kenya, on November 25, 2022.

The ENRICH in Africa project, an EU project funded under the Horizon 2020 program, resulted in the creation of the EiA Centre, a network integrating European and African innovation hubs.

The ENRICH in Africa project, which is overseen by a group of ecosystem stakeholders, aims to strengthen internationalization and collaboration in innovation by establishing a supportive network of incubators and accelerators from both of the continents’ close proximity. It does this by implementing services that are “by the community, for the community.” The ENRICH in Africa Center, which has its headquarters in Cape Town, South Africa, is organized through an online digital platform and offers a virtual meeting place for various innovation stakeholders, such as incubators, accelerators, innovation facilitators, business owners, SMEs, and corporate investors.

Users will be able to access a variety of cutting-edge services through the Centre and its platform once they have registered, including specialized services for African and European incubators and accelerators through a Champions membership program and targeted programs for entrepreneurs, like Open Innovation Challenges and soft-landing opportunities.

“We are happy to have the opportunity to collaborate with such a capable set of partners to strengthen the innovation ecosystem in Europe and Africa. Even though there is a ton of work already being done in this area, we believe it would be beneficial to increase these actors’ capability and link the two regions together. Director of the EiA Centre, member of the management board, and department head at Steinbeis Europa Zentrum, the partner organization for the EiA project, is Eduardo Herrmann.

“Methys is thrilled to have been selected to house the ENRICH in Africa Center’s head office in Cape Town along with our longtime partner Startupbootcamp AfriTech. We will relentlessly work to create a shared enterprise centered around technology partnerships, open innovation, and soft landing for African entrepreneurs in Europe and European entrepreneurs in Africa thanks to the grant from the European Commission and the platform of partnerships we have been building over the years. We anticipate stepping up our efforts to assist our ecosystem. – Director of the EiA Center and CEO of the EiA Project Consortium member Methys Consulting (Pty) Ltd., Christophe Viarnaud

Four of the project partners—Methys, Startupbootcamp Afritech, Steinbeis Europa Zentrum, and SPI from Europe—have founded the EiA Centre. Methys and Startupbootcamp AfriTech are sharing office space with the Centre in Cape Town, and several reputable African and European actors in the innovation ecosystem also support the Center’s programs and services.