The Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026–2027 marks a new phase for international cooperation in European research and innovation. The General Introduction makes this explicit: all sections of the work programme “actively encourage international collaboration, with a particular focus on initiatives involving Africa, the Mediterranean, Latin America and the Caribbean.” This creates a favourable and time-bound opportunity for African institutions to expand and deepen their participation in EU-funded research and innovation.
For African stakeholders – universities, research councils, public laboratories, hospitals, SMEs, NGOs and public authorities – Horizon Europe offers multiple, concrete entry points:
1. Broad openness to African participation
Most Research and Innovation Actions (RIA), Innovation Actions (IA) and Coordination and Support Actions (CSA) in the 2026–27 work programme are open to participation from African organisations as full partners, provided the topic does not contain specific restrictions. The EU’s strategic plan for 2025–2027 confirms that international cooperation remains a foundation of Horizon Europe and highlights Africa as a regional priority.
This means African institutions can:
- Join multinational consortia coordinated by European or associated partners.
- Contribute data, case studies, test sites and demonstration environments highly relevant to global challenges.
- Host field work, living labs, pilot projects and capacity-building activities under Horizon-funded projects.
2. Thematic windows with strong Africa–Europe relevance
The main opportunities for African partners sit in Pillar II – Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness, across the six clusters:
- Cluster 1 – Health: infectious diseases, One Health, pandemic preparedness, health systems resilience, digital health and AI. African expertise is particularly relevant for clinical research, surveillance, and health-system strengthening in diverse settings.
- Cluster 2 – Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society: governance, inequalities, social transformations, migration and democracy. African social science and humanities institutions can bring crucial perspectives on inclusion, participation, youth and social cohesion.
- Cluster 3 – Civil Security for Society: disaster risk management, climate-related security risks, cyber-resilience, and border management – areas where African and European regions share common threats and can co-develop solutions.
- Cluster 4 – Digital, Industry and Space: AI, advanced digital technologies, data infrastructures, earth observation and space applications. African institutions can engage in joint work on digital public infrastructure, EO-based services, and AI for development.
- Cluster 5 – Climate, Energy and Mobility: decarbonisation, renewable energy, adaptation, just transitions and sustainable mobility. This aligns closely with Global Gateway investments, including the EU–South Africa Just Energy Transition partnership.
- Cluster 6 – Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment: climate-resilient agriculture, water, biodiversity, nature restoration, oceans and fisheries – all of direct importance to African and European partners alike.
Many 2026–27 topics explicitly reference “international cooperation”, “third countries”, “low- and middle-income countries” or “global dimension”—these are natural entry points where African participation is not only possible, but highly desirable.
3. Research infrastructures and open science
The 2026–27 work programme also strengthens the international dimension of European research infrastructures and the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).
For African partners, this translates into:
- Access opportunities via projects that fund “transnational access” to European research infrastructures (e.g. environmental, health, astronomy, marine, data and digital RIs).
- Collaboration on data federations, interoperability, standards and services under EOSC, which can help connect African data resources and computing to global science workflows.
- Joint work to design long-term RI partnerships (e.g. in astronomy, climate and biodiversity observation, health data spaces) that link European ESFRI-class infrastructures with African facilities and networks.
4. Mobility, skills and careers: MSCA and “Choose Europe for Science”
The work programme reinforces the role of Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) and the “Choose Europe for Science” initiative in attracting and circulating talent.
For African researchers and institutions, this offers:
- Participation in MSCA Doctoral Networks and Staff Exchanges, with African universities and institutes as full partners or associated partners in consortia.
- Opportunities for joint supervision of PhDs, long-term secondments, and short training visits.
- Programmes that strengthen research management, open science skills, and interdisciplinary training.
This directly supports African human-capital development goals and dovetails with national strategies such as South Africa’s Decadal Plan for Science, Technology and Innovation (2020–2030).
5. Innovation, startups and ecosystems
The European Innovation Ecosystems (EIE) strand and parts of the European Innovation Council (EIC) open space for cross-regional innovation collaboration.
African innovation agencies, hubs and startups can:
- Join projects that connect innovation ecosystems across regions, especially in deep tech, digital, health, agritech and climate solutions.
- Partner on acceleration programmes, investment readiness schemes and open innovation platforms.
- Test and scale innovations in African markets as part of Horizon projects, providing real-world environments and feedback.
6. EU Missions and Global Gateway
The five EU Missions (Climate Adaptation, Cancer, Cities, Soil, and Ocean & Waters) are built around real-world experimentation and have a clear international dimension.
African governments, regions, cities, river basins and coastal zones can participate as:
- Mission “sites” or partners in demonstration projects, living labs and lighthouse regions.
- Collaborators on nature-based solutions, soil restoration, water management, urban resilience and coastal protection.
Where Missions intersect with Global Gateway investments – for example on climate, energy, transport, digital and health connectivity with Africa – there is particular scope to combine research, policy dialogue and infrastructure investment.
