Horizon Europe - International cooperation in AI (HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-06)

Innovation Action to accelerate uptake of AI solutions by local innovation hubs in low- and middle-income countries, explicitly to strengthen local AI ecosystems in African countries: Living Labs inside local hubs, local-data training of existing AI models (building on GenAI for Africa and AI for Public Good), and full real-world validation with initial support for large-scale deployment.

Malawi qualifies as an LMIC named in the topic scope. Consortia need at least three independent legal entities from EU Member States or Horizon Europe associated countries; Malawian entities join as funded beneficiaries (Malawi is on the list of countries automatically eligible for Horizon Europe funding) but cannot coordinate.

Local data gathering and AI model optimisation; Living Labs in local innovation hubs; contextualised bottom-up AI solutions for climate, agriculture, biodiversity, health, humanitarian and education challenges; talent pipelines and technology transfer to local hubs; TRL 5-7 testing and validation in operational environments.

Submit once via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal when the topic opens on 17 November 2026; UNIMA needs a PIC (participant identification code) and an EU/associated-country coordinator. Use the portal's partner-search announcements for this topic.