Intra-Africa Academic Mobility Scheme enhancing Human Capital Development

Deadline: 19 May 2020

The Intra-Africa Academic Mobility Scheme, a joint initiative of the African Union and the European Union, is being implemented under the auspices of the Pan-African Partnership.

The programme is directly managed by the European Commission through the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (hereinafter referred as “the Agency”), under the supervision of the Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development and in collaboration with the African Union Commission Department for Human Resources, Science and Technology.

The overall objective of the programme is to enhance human capital development in Africa, while strengthening intra-African collaboration as called for by Agenda 2063.

Objectives

The programme’s specific objectives are to:

• increase the employability of students;
• improve the quality of higher education in Africa and its relevance to Africa’s development vision;
• strengthen the modernisation and internationalisation of African higher education institutions, and promote the development of an African higher education and research space.

Mobility of students and staff between Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) is expected to help them acquire stronger knowledge and skills and contribute to improve the quality and relevance of teaching and learning through exchanges of practices. Within the African Union vision, this is also essential for developing higher education capacity to generate African solutions to African challenges and to build an African higher education and research space.

Thematic fields of study

Taking into account the priorities of the AU-EU strategy and the AU continental frameworks, the present Call is open to the following thematic fields of study:

• Agriculture and Food Security
• Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
• Economics, business, finance
• Education Sciences
• Health Sciences
• Environment

Funding Information

• The total budget earmarked for the co-financing of projects is estimated at EUR 9.800.000 and should allow around 350 mobility flows.
• Each grant will amount to between EUR 1.000.000 (minimum grant size) and EUR 1.400.000 (maximum grant size) depending on:
  • the number of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) participating as lead applicant and co-applicants).
  • the number, type and duration of the mobility flows to be implemented.
• The Agency expects to fund 7-8 proposals.
• The Agency reserves the right not to distribute all the funds available.

Eligibility Criteria

• The present Call is open to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) as lead applicant and coapplicants.
• Individuals will benefit from the mobility activities planned by these HEIs.
• HEIs and other types of organisations can also be involved in the proposals as associated partners.

Lead Applicants

• The lead applicant must:
  • Be a legal person (“legal entity”): in order to demonstrate its existence as a legal person, the applicant must be legally established for more than 3 years and must provide a Legal Entity Form, duly completed, signed, and accompanied by the relevant documents;
  • Be a Higher Education Institution (private or public). In order to be eligible as a Higher Education Institution, applicants must provide courses at the post graduate level (masters level and/or doctoral degree) of higher education leading to a qualification recognised by the competent authorities in their own country; they may be called a “University” or bear other relevant name (e.g. “Polytechnic”, “College”, “Institute”, etc); they must be accredited by relevant national authorities;
  • Be registered and established in Africa. Branches or subsidiaries of HEIs from outside the African continent are not eligible.
• Partnership
  • The partnership will be composed of a lead applicant and co-applicants (partner HEIs and an EU technical partner).
  • The partnership must be constituted of a minimum of four (4) HEIs (including the lead applicant) from Africa and one technical partner from an EU Member State.
  • The maximum size of the partnership is limited to six (6) HEIs (including the lead applicant) from Africa and one technical partner from an EU Member State.
  • In each partnership, no more than two (2) HEIs (including the lead applicant) from the same country are allowed to participate .
  • HEIs from a minimum of three (3) African regions must participate in any partnership (taking into account the lead applicant).

Co-applicants

• Partners
  • Partners must:
    • Be a legal person (“legal entity”): in order to demonstrate its existence as a legal person, the Partner must be legally established for more than 3 years;
    • Be a Higher Education Institution (private or public). In order to be eligible as a Higher Education Institution, partners must provide courses at the post graduate level (masters level and/or doctoral degree) of higher education leading to a qualification recognised by the competent authorities in their own country; they may be called a “University” or bear other relevant name (e.g. “Polytechnic”, “College”, “Institute”, etc.); they must be accredited by relevant national authorities in an eligible country (see Section 6.1 above);
    • Be registered and established in Africa. Branches or subsidiaries of HEIs from outside the African continent are not eligible.
• EU Technical Partner
  • The partnerships must involve one HEI established in one of the EU Member States and having been awarded an Erasmus Charter for Higher Education, as technical partner.
  • The technical partner should provide support in the management of the partnership and in the organisation and implementation of the mobility. For that reason, the technical partner must have a strong experience in the management of international mobility flows.
  • Proposals should clearly state the tasks and responsibilities of the technical partner as well as the nature of the services to be provided.

Selection Criteria

• Lead Applicants must have stable and sufficient sources of finance to maintain their activity throughout the proposed action and, where appropriate, to participate in its funding.
• Applicants and Co-applicants must have the management capacity, professional competencies and qualifications required to successfully complete the proposed action.
• Each applicant must submit a declaration on their honour, completed and signed, attesting to their financial and operational capacity to complete the proposed activities.

How to Apply

Interested applicants can apply via given website.

Eligible Countries: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia,Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, GuineaBissau, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo,Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, São Tomé-and-Príncipe, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, eSwatini, Zambia, Zimbabwe

For more information, visit https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/intra-africa/funding/intra-africa-academic-mobility-scheme-2020_en