The Africa Prize backs sub-Saharan African engineers commercialising an engineering innovation, combining cash prizes with eight months of structured business support. It is judged in two stages: a Stage 1 submission on the applicant and the technology, assessed by two technical experts for viability, and a Stage 2 longlist round requiring a business plan, market analysis, financial projections and a commercialisation strategy. It rewards a working innovation with a route to market, not a research proposal.
Deadline
8 September 2026, 16:00 UTC+1 (Stage 1)11 days left
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) · European Union
12–24 month fellowship for postdoctoral researchers of any nationality to work at a European host institution. Global Fellowships include an outgoing phase at a non-European institution.
Deadline
Closes 9 September 202612 days left
Value
Living, mobility and family allowances (call budget €399 million); European and Global Postdoctoral Fellowship tracks
The British Council's Going Global Partnerships TVET grant supports UK-based further-education colleges and training organisations to collaborate with TVET stakeholders in Egypt, Ghana, Malawi, Morocco and Uganda, building international skills partnerships.
The African Water Facility, an initiative of the African Ministers' Council on Water administered by the African Development Bank Group, has launched its 2026 Call for Proposals under the AWF 2026–2030 Strategy. It funds project preparation studies—feasibility work, detailed engineering design, environmental and social assessment, transaction advisory, and financial structuring—that move identified water and sanitation investments toward bankability. AWF does not finance construction; it finances the preparatory work that lets a project attract downstream public or private investment.
Scottish Government — International Development · Scotland, United Kingdom
The Scottish Government's international development fund includes one stream — Shifting the Power — that explicitly requires partnership with organisations in Malawi, Zambia or Rwanda. Scotland has run a dedicated Malawi development programme for years, and this fund is one of its instruments. The lead applicant must be a Scottish-based organisation.
TREE Fund supports university-based research in arboriculture, urban forestry, and related fields. Three active programmes: Jack Kimmel International Grant (arboriculture, tree health, risk, up to $10,000), John Z. Duling Grant (exploratory arboriculture and plant development, up to $25,000), and Building Bridges Initiative (collaborative tree value research, up to $30,000).
European Commission — Horizon Europe · European Union
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-BIODIV-01 The call supports the understanding and identification of insect diversity, including through genomic approaches, to inform the knowledge of the drivers of the dramatic decline of insects. Projects will assess the status and trends of insects and analyse multiple drivers affecting them, as well as the ecosystem services that insects provide, at different spatial scales. A comprehensive integrative taxonomy approach should be adopted, incorporating a multidisciplinary framework, including ecology and ecotoxicology, and integrating methods that address the diverse needs of insects across their entire lifecycle, ensuring the identification of essential habitat resources at each stage of development.
Deadline
17 September 2026 17:00:00 Brussels time20 days left
Value
€6.5 million per project | Up to 2 projects funded
European Commission — Horizon Europe · European Union
HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-DEMOCRACY-02 This call supports comparative and empirical research on how local democratic institutions and processes function in low-income and lower-middle-income countries (LMICs). Projects should examine formal and informal governance structures, citizen participation, decentralisation, accountability mechanisms, and the conditions under which local democracy contributes to development outcomes. Cross-country and interdisciplinary methodologies are encouraged.
European Commission — Horizon Europe · European Union
HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-HERITAGE-05: This call promotes research on international partnerships and policy frameworks in the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI), including music, visual arts, literature, film, and crafts. Projects should examine how global CCI collaboration can support cultural diversity, access, and economic development, including in the Global South. The call explicitly encourages Africa–EU creative partnerships.
European Commission — Horizon Europe · European Union
Funds research on the impact of digital tool use on educational outcomes and mental health in children and young people. There is limited evidence on the interrelation between the use of digital tools for leisure in-school or out-of-school and educational performance, in both primary and secondary education, because most of the existing literature is purely correlational, or only focuses on effects on well-being.
SGCI Phase 3, with support from Norad and IDRC, is funding African-led, multi-country research consortia that advance the priorities of the African Union’s Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA-2034). Five thematic streams are open across the call — health; agriculture and food systems; artificial intelligence and digital technologies; energy; and environment and climate resilience — with each participating country funding only the streams its own council has committed to. Malawi participates through NCST, whose national circular invites Malawian researchers working in Agriculture and Energy to lead or join consortia. This is a two-stage competition: a short Expression of Interest now, full technical proposals by invitation only.
Deadline
25 September 2026, 23:59 EDT (Expression of Interest)28 days left
