Digital for Development (D4D) Hub

📍 Accra | eLearning Africa 2026 The D4D Hub is heading to eLearning Africa 2026! We are proud to join partners from across Africa and Europe to spotlight the role of digital skills in driving inclusive, people-centred digital transformation. Africa’s digital transformation is opening new opportunities for innovation, entrepreneurship and job creation. At the same time, digital skills gaps continue to challenge labour markets globally. Strengthening partnerships around talent development and digital skills is essential to ensure that digital transformation creates opportunities for all. 📣 Join our public session: The Talent–Tech Connection: Boosting African Talents to Bridge the Global Digital Skills Gap (EN/FR) 🗓️ Thursday 4 June 🕝 14:30–15:30 📍 Omanye I Room Together with speakers from EU institutions, African and European businesses, and development partners, we will explore how Africa–Europe cooperation can strengthen digital talent pipelines, empower young professionals and help bridge the global digital skills gap. 🤝 You can also meet us throughout the conference at the #TeamEurope stand, shared with the Regional Teachers Initiative for Africa, to exchange ideas and learn more about collaboration on digital skills, innovation and talent development. 📚 Earlier that day, don’t miss the Regional Teachers Initiative for Africa session exploring key challenges and opportunities in the digitalisation of teaching: 🗓️ Thursday 4 June 🕦 11:45 📍 Adinkra Room 👉 Read more: https://lnkd.in/e3EhfgvV #eLearningAfrica2026 #DigitalSkills #GlobalGateway #AfricaEurope #DigitalTransformation #TeamEurope #D4DHub #SkillsForTheFuture #EducationTechnology #TalentDevelopment Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Enabel Kirsten Van Camp, Papa Kofi Boahen, Jente Rosseel, Dr. Labani Kanyonga, Eric Opoku, Elsa Dufayard, Rune Skinnebach, Jan Verschueren

Last week, the D4D Hub convened an EU–Africa study visit on Artificial Intelligence, bringing together delegations from Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Nigeria and Senegal for a week of exchanges across France and Belgium. The visit created space for direct dialogue between African and European policymakers, researchers and private sector leaders on how to shape trusted, inclusive and locally relevant AI ecosystems through partnership. Participants engaged with a wide range of institutions and innovators, including: 🔹 Ministère des Affaires étrangères français 🔹 Mistral AI 🔹 Thales 🔹 Inria 🔹 GENCI 🔹 OVHcloud 🔹 European Commission The programme also featured a high-level exchange on the EU–Africa AI Tech Business Offer, highlighting concrete opportunities to strengthen cooperation on AI infrastructure, innovation ecosystems, investment and talent development between Africa and Europe. As AI increasingly shapes digital transformation and economic competitiveness worldwide, partnerships like these are essential to ensure innovation is human-centric, trusted and creates shared value across continents. Thank you to all partners and participants who made this exchange possible.   #D4DHub #EUAfrica #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #DigitalTransformation #Innovation #TeamEurope #GlobalGateway #AfricaEU #TechForDevelopment Cheikh N., Assane Wade, Bunmi Ajala, PhD, FHEA., Muhammad Aminu Lawal, Ph.D., AbdulFattah Biliameen, Leo Magomba, David Mwankenja, Nicholas M Mkapa, Mary Kerema,OGW, John Walubengo, CISA, CDPSE, (OGW). Dr. John Olukuru, Kutlwano C., Precious Lukhele, Frances Eberhard, Lawrence Matemba, Hussein Jaffar, Sixtine Viry, Davor Orlic, Tom Doise, Clément Bacchi, Mona Stein, Barbara Barone, Ikram T.

✊🏽 What does “digital sovereignty” actually mean in practice? If most African data continue to sit outside Africa, then its digital economy will continue depending on infrastructure controlled elsewhere. In the latest episode of the podcast “Why Should We Care About African Data Centers?”, Dr Krishnan Ranganath (Krish) from UniCloudAfrica speaks about one of the most ambitious emerging ideas in African digital infrastructure: building a pan-African sovereign cloud ecosystem. The conversation explores why this matters technically, commercially and geopolitically. As he explains, Africa’s digital infrastructure sector may still be developing, but the scale of the opportunity remains enormous. Dr Krishnan outlines UniCloud Africa’s longer-term vision of availing interconnected regional cloud zones across Africa, combined with green data centers designed to support locally anchored digital economy. This podcast is produced as part of the Data Governance in Africa Initiative. New episode out now. 📺 Watch on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/e_gE3bwn 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/e6MWSD5u 🎧 Listen on Afripods: https://lnkd.in/e2UF_kAy European Commission, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, HAUS kehittämiskeskus Oy / HAUS Finnish Institute of Public Management Ltd Ville Wacklin, Ilari Lindy, Juha Miettinen, Teppo Kettula, Kati Tanninen, Yassin Bendjebbour, Ana Grozdev, Gideon Berhane, Eva Scholtes, Franz von Weizsäcker, Wibishet Fessha Assefa, Jukka Salminen, Antti Granlund #DataGovernance #Africa #TeamEurope #GlobalGateway #D4DHub #DigitalInfrastructure #DataCenters #Cloud #SovereignCloud #AI

On 21–22 May, the Digital and Green Innovation (DGI) Action brought three sessions to Latitude59, one of Europe's premier startup and investment forums: getting European capital to Africa's digital and green innovators, and opening African markets to European companies ready to act.   Panel 1: Navigating Africa's Innovation Markets The conversation moved past "Africa rising." This panel got practical: regulatory fragmentation, entry timelines, trust gaps, and the partnership models that actually work on the ground. Featuring voices from Nigeria and Botswana alongside ESTDEV's Victoria Nkatha, it offered European companies asking how, not whether, a roadmap to act.   Panel 2: Financing Africa's Digital and Green Innovators A persistent "missing middle" of small-ticket financing continues to hold back Africa's most promising innovators. Moderated by ESTDEV's Olga Bogdanova, the panel mapped where EU instruments reach — and where they don't — drawing on perspectives from the EIB, EBRD, and adelphi's green entrepreneurship programme.   Closed-Door Workshop (22 May): The workshop turned diagnosis into design. A selected group of DFIs, African finance intermediaries, ESOs, and Team Europe implementing partners worked together to identify the most actionable levers to close the gap — from regulatory adaptations to innovative intermediation models.   DGI is a Team Europe project co-financed by the European Commission, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Expertise France, Agence Française de Développement, Enabel, Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV), and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency   Victoria Nkatha, Gerald Black, Gomolemo Lolo Madikgetla [UNGWA Africa] - Cocreating Meaningful Impact, Götz von Stumpfeldt, Christine Meyer, Elena Dia, Taavet Tomberg, Moritz Zimmermann, Lucrezia Biteete

🤔 What does sustainable digital infrastructure actually look like in practice? About 100 emerging engineers from four #SouthAfrican universities asked that question directly to industry and policy leaders. The answers were candid and uncomfortable. 💡 🔴 Energy instability and cost remain a constraint to scale data centres. 🟡 Africa builds infrastructure but doesn't fully own platforms, services & data intelligence build on top of it. 🟢 The talent gap is real, but solvable if industry, government and academia work together. The conversation connected classroom potential to a mix of realities on: 🏛️ Policy, sovereignty and digital transition from government #DSTI 🏗️ Public digital infrastructure by research networks Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) 🏢 Commercially-viable green data centres by operators Teraco – A Digital Realty Company ⚙️ Efficient infrastructure systems by technology providers Siemens 🚀 Affordable & reliable infrastructure for innovation by startups DevBoks This exchange aimed to prepare the future workforce needed for data centres and build a sustainable digital infrastructure ecosystem. Organised by Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and GIZ South Africa, Lesotho & eSwatini, this activity is part of the Digital Investment Facility #DIF under the Team Europe Data Governance in Africa Initiative #D4DataGOV. #DataGovernance #TeamEurope #GlobalGateway #GreenDataCentres #DigitalInfrastructure #DataEconomy #Sustainability #FutureEngineers European Commission, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, University of the Witwatersrand, University of Johannesburg & Tshwane University of Technology Toni Yannick Kalombo, Zandile Zungu, Katlego W. Phoshoko, PhD, Dr. More Ickson Manda (PhD, MBA, MIT, BSc. Hons), Marco Rahner, Bryce Allan, Daniel Mokhohlane _ Pr.Sci.Nat., PhD (Wits), Mulalo Tshedza Mphidi

🌍 Presentación del Catálogo de Soluciones Open Source en Observación de la Tierra   #TeamEurope impulsa la innovación digital y climática en América Latina y el Caribe a través de herramientas abiertas y tecnologías espaciales basadas en datos.   Desde la Delegación de la Unión Europea en Colombia y el programa Digital & Green Innovation, implementado por Expertise France en Colombia, Chile y Panamá y cofinanciado por la #Unión #Europea, Francia y Alemania, te invitamos a conocer un catálogo de soluciones open source en Observación de la Tierra, desarrollado a partir de datos y servicios del programa #Copernicus.   Esta sesión virtual reunirá a emprendedores, investigadores y actores del ecosistema digital y ambiental para explorar aplicaciones prácticas que fortalecen la resiliencia climática, el monitoreo ambiental, la gestión del territorio y la toma de decisiones basadas en datos.   También conoceremos avances y oportunidades del ecosistema de Observación de la Tierra en Colombia y casos de uso que promueven la innovación y el desarrollo sostenible en la región. 🌱🛰️   📅 Fecha: 28 de mayo ⏰ Hora: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (hora Colombia) 💻 Modalidad: Virtual 🔗 Inscripciones: https://bit.ly/4tAAUsp   #Copernicus #EarthObservation #DigitalAndGreenInnovation #ClimateTech #Innovación #TeamEurope

🚨 88,000 victims. $485 million lost.   This is the reality of #OperationSerengeti 2.0, one of INTERPOL's largest cybercrime crackdown across Africa and the UK. It led to a staggering 1,209 arrests and 11,500 malicious networks dismantled.   This is just the tip of the iceberg. Criminal networks are maturing rapidly, deploying AI-driven scams and targeting critical infrastructure such as data centres.   That is why the Digital Investment Facility #DIF has just published Cybersecurity Guidelines to support African countries and organisations in keeping data centres secure. It helps defend against cyber threats and ensure operations continue safely during disruptions or attacks.   🔽 Download Guidelines: https://lnkd.in/eM7FB9Bc   #DIF is part of the #TeamEurope Data Governance in Africa Initiative #D4DataGOV. It promotes green and secure data infrastructures that contribute to a Digital Single Market in #Africa.   #DataGovernance #GlobalGateway #DigitalInfrastructure #CyberSecurity   European Commission Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, HAUS kehittämiskeskus Oy / HAUS Finnish Institute of Public Management Ltd, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, digital.global   Juha Miettinen Shirin Namiq, Ilari Lindy, Teppo Kettula, Yassin Bendjebbour, Ana Grozdev, Gideon Berhane, Franz von Weizsäcker

Artificial intelligence is increasingly shaping competitiveness, industrial ecosystems and digital infrastructure worldwide.     Europe and Africa share a common interest in building trusted AI ecosystems that strengthen competitiveness, innovation, and digital sovereignty through like-minded partnerships based on open standards and local ownership.     Today in Brussels, policymakers, AI industry leaders, development finance institutions, and private sector actors from both continents come together to explore practical cooperation on AI infrastructure, innovation ecosystems, and investment opportunities, contributing to a future “Virtual AI Corridor” between Europe and Africa.     🤝 At the centre of the discussions was the EU AI Tech Business Offer: a framework focused on matchmaking, deployable solutions and long-term cooperation between European and African innovation ecosystems. Through Team Europe mechanisms, the initiative aims to connect European technology capabilities with African priorities in areas such as AI infrastructure, digital public infrastructure and applied AI solutions.     🌍 Companies including SAP, Nokia, Siemens Healthineers and Ericsson engaged alongside African partners such as Cassava Technologies, Equity Bank and Smart Africa, reflecting growing momentum in shaping the future AI economy across both continents. 👉 Read more on the: European Commission website: https://lnkd.in/etFkYeHH Digital for Development (D4D) Hub website: https://lnkd.in/e5zNH3bg    #AIEconomy #EUAfricaAI #DigitalPartnerships #AICompetitiveness #DigitalInfrastructure     European Commission, Smart Africa, GIZ Brussels, GIZ Tanzania and EAC, GIZ African Union Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Digital for Development (D4D) Hub, Cassava Technologies, Siemens Healthineers, Ericsson, Nokia, GIZ Kenya

💸Finance! That is the biggest bottleneck for the African digital infrastructure sector. ⚠️ A data centre project can look commercially viable on paper and still collapse under the weight of currency volatility. Why? Because many African financing institutions remain cautious after suffering losses from earlier projects. At the same time, unstable local currencies keep international investors away from the sector. As African countries build digital infrastructures, finance, regulation, currency stability and long-term institutional trust will shape how quickly digital economies can grow and who participates in that growth. In the latest episode of “Why Should We Care About African Data Centers?”, Toly Awoyinfa from Argentil Capital Partners (UK) explains these harsh financial realities behind building digital infrastructure in Africa. This podcast is produced as part of the Data Governance in Africa Initiative. 📺 Watch on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/eeZAmTp3 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/em6-QmRj 🎧 Listen on Afripods: https://lnkd.in/endt5YXV #DataGovernance #Africa #TeamEurope #GlobalGateway #D4DHub #DataCentres #DigitalInfrastructure #Internet #AI #InfrastructureFinance European Commission, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, HAUS kehittämiskeskus Oy / HAUS Finnish Institute of Public Management Ltd Ville Wacklin, Ilari Lindy, Juha Miettinen, Teppo Kettula, Kati Tanninen, Yassin Bendjebbour, Ana Grozdev, Gideon Berhane, Eva Scholtes, Franz von Weizsäcker, Wibishet Fessha Assefa, Jukka Salminen, Antti Granlund

What if the answer to food waste wasn't disposal — but transformation?   In Cambodia, where most animal feed is imported and food waste management remains largely unaddressed, Evola is building a different kind of supply chain. Through Black Soldier Fly bioconversion, the company collects organic waste and converts it into high-protein animal feed and natural fertiliser — closing the loop between what communities discard and what local farmers need.   But Evola's innovation doesn't stop at biology. The company is digitising its production data and developing an IoT system to monitor and record inputs and outputs across its operations in real time — bringing precision and traceability to circular agriculture.   Founded in Phnom Penh in 2019 by Hul Hunsopheary, a solar engineer turned entrepreneur, Evola is rooted in a simple but powerful question: where are the scalable solutions to food waste in Cambodia? Finding very few, she built one.   #TeamEurope is proud to support innovators like Evola Cambodia through the Digital & Green Innovation Accelerator (DGIx), providing mentorship, funding, and international exposure to help locally-rooted ideas grow into solutions with lasting impact.   💡 Through the Digital & Green Innovation Accelerator (DGIx), #TeamEurope supports innovators like Evola with mentorship, funding, and international exposure, helping local ideas grow into scalable solutions with real impact. In Cambodia the project was implemented by GIZ Cambodia and Impact Hub Phnom Penh. As part of #GlobalGateway, DGIx is supported by the European Commission, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Expertise France, Agence Française de Développement, Enabel, Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV), and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, working together to strengthen innovation ecosystems for green growth and digital inclusion.