In addition to its environmental challenges and population growth, Africa, which now has 13% of the world’s population, must focus on sustainable development. This is why the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OEACP) is implementing the Promotion of Research, Innovation and Digital Culture in Central Africa (PRICNAC) program to support innovations in entrepreneurship and digital for sustainable development.
For the first phase of its call for projects, this program supported by the European Union (EU) has selected five projects from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Cameroon. The first project to be carried out in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) focuses on the integration of local traditional knowledge and indigenous peoples in mitigating the effects of climate change in Kasai-Central, a province vulnerable to this phenomenon.
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The second project is an initiative of the Association for Integrated Development and Interactive Solidarity (Adisi-Cameroon), which focuses on the establishment of a factory of sustainable territories in Cameroon. In addition, PRICNAC has also validated a project to create job opportunities for young people in Cameroon through synergies between the research and innovation ecosystems and the business world. The grant will be awarded to the Association for the Promotion of a Green and Livable Environment, founded in 2014.
The grants awarded to the projects selected by PRICNAC for the first phase of its deployment in Central Africa are in the order of 155,000 euros (more than 100 million CFA francs) for a period of 10 to 14 months and will be used in synergy with educational institutions and research centers, businesses, national and local public administrations, entrepreneurial organizations and trade unions. In addition to this financial support, beneficiaries will participate in cross-cutting monitoring and networking activities as well as training in entrepreneurship and research, tailored to the needs indicated.
Benoit-Ivan Wansi