LEAP-RE: an example of coordination, resource mobilisation and capacity building in R&I between Europe and Africa

The Long-Term Euro-African Partnership on Renewable Energy (LEAP-RE) seeks to create a long-term collaboration framework of African and European stakeholders in a quadruple helix approach: government (programme owners and funding agencies), research and academia, private sector, and civil society. The aim is to reduce fragmentation by aligning existing bilateral and multilateral frameworks. LEAP-RE establishes and jointly implements research, innovation, and capacity- building activitie in renewable energies, notably:  (i) Planning and modelling future sustainable energy systems; (ii) Including society as an important stakeholder ; (iii) Market, pricing and business models for future sustainable energy systems; and (iv) Strengthening basic research and technology development. The approach encourages the development of scenarios that are appropriate to local contexts and can be further utilised to support policy makers. 

The partnership launched in 2020 will take a decisive step forward in 2025, based in particular on the following achievements: 

• The establishment of a bi-continental co-funding mechanism: Two calls for projects have been launched in 2021 and 2022, with 220+ beneficiary organisations in over 30 countries in Europe and Africa.. The third call has been launched on 13th January 2025 under the guidance of the French National Research Agency (ANR).
• A Strategic assessment for growth potential thanks to an ongoing analysis of Go to Market potential: LEAP-RE particularly explores strategies for scaling renewable energy innovations through market uptake of renewable energy technologies (development and commercialization, policy, building partnerships for market entry). One of the projects funded by LEAP-RE is RE4AFAGRI, led by IIASA. This project aims at demonstrating digital decision-support solutions based on technological, economic, and business model innovation to i) sustainable cropland irrigation and community-wide renewable electricity access, ii) increased agricultural productivity, local crop processing and cold storage, iii) agriculture as leverage for reduction of poverty and inequality, iv) agriculture as leverage for energy access financing. This project will be invited and will illustrate the importance of a bi-continental programme like LEAP-RE for scaling up and identifying market opportunities.
• Institutional Teaming & Twinning capacities: This involves co-designing research agendas and decision-making processes. The Partnership is investigating new collaborative patterns which instruments are based on formal agreements between African and European institutions to promote long-term collaboration (twinning), and an emergent process where individuals and groups with multidisciplinary skills collaborate (teaming). This co-construction is key to pave the way for an inclusive partnership in critical challenges such as green energy and climate change with access to infrastructure, technology, and research laboratories.
• Trainings & Capacity-building: develop quality protocol for training in sustainable energy, through the continuation of organizing Renewable Energy Schools (RESchools), MOOCs, and technical training sessions to foster bi-continental exchange. Three RESchools have been organized since 2020 and have gathered 150+ participants.

Thus, LEAP-RE could be instrumental with a view to implementing ambitious African strategies (Africa 2063, African Continental Master Plan) and European strategies (Partnership on Climate Change and Sustainable Energy (CCSE) as part of the AU-EU HLPD on Science Technology and Innovation, AU/EU Innovation Agenda on Green Transition) on sustainable energy, energy access and climate change mitigation.