LEAP-SE – Joint EU-AU Research and Innovation Partnership on Sustainable Energy

Joint research and innovation partnership between the European Union and the African Union on sustainable energy (LEAP-SE)

The development of sustainable energy (SE) is essential for the green energy transition of Africa and Europe in order to address the global challenge of climate change. Providing reliable access to clean energy for millions of people is crucial. To this end, the long-term joint program of the EU-AU Research and Innovation Partnership on Sustainable Energy (LEAP-SE), co-funded by the European Commission under Horizon Europe, aims to develop a long-term partnership between Europe and Africa. This partnership is part of the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Partnership (CESE) within the High-Level Political Dialogue between the African Union and the European Union on science, technology, and innovation.

LEAP-SE is a six-year program coordinated by ANR, France, with a consortium of 20 partners from European and African countries. The program budget is approximately €30 million, including €10 million from the European Commission. This partnership builds on the results achieved in the previous LEAP-RE program.

The activities planned for collaboration under LEAP-SE focus on the seven priorities of the identified multi-annual roadmaps.

The general objectives of LEAP-SE are:

• Launch two Calls research and innovation projects on the themes of the multiannual roadmaps;
• Enhance the attractiveness of initiatives co-financed by African Union funding authorities;
• Develop synergies between funded projects in order to avoid fragmentation of efforts, encouraging the research and innovation community of LEAP-SE, LEAP-RE, and others;
• Promote effective dialogue with high-level actors.