The third Academic Partnership programme between Africa and France (PeA) kicks off

“France and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs act to change our Franco-African relationships with an active university and scientific cooperation based on mutual interest and improving this mutual interest”, said Emmanuel Lebrun-Damiens, Head of Culture, Education and Research, and Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs network.

Since 2020, the PeA programme, formerly known as “Partnerships with African higher education” continues its ambition to fund Franco-African partnerships working to develop training courses (Licence/Bachelor, Master and/or Doctorate/phD) in priority economic sectors for partner African countries. Thanks to the success of the first two editions which helped support 13 projects, this third edition plans to fund five to six new projects using a 15 million euros fund.

Training men and women experts in priority fields, generate scientific knowledge, shed the light on decisionmakers, and boost innovation: higher education institutions have a critical role to play in the implementation of sustainable development strategies. By extending its support to new projects, the PeA contributes to boose the access of the young to higher education on the African continent and complete demands of necessary skills to the sustainable development of countries.

PUBLICATION OF THE CALL FOR PROJECT “PeA 3” IN NOVEMBER 2024

The National Agency for Research (ANR in French), operator of the “Africa-France Academic Partnerships” (PeA) programme, will release the 3rd call for projects in November 2024. The end of the call for projects should occur in Spring 2025, and the announcement of laureates in Autumn 2025.

The new edition will be available to the following African countries: South Africa, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ruanda, Togo.

The PeA supports projects : 
 

• driven by a consortium coordinated by a higher education institution in an African country eligible for PeA 3, on the one hand, and a French higher education institution, possibly reinforced by other French higher education institutions, on the other;
• aimed at building up and implementing on a long-term basis a range of Licence(Bachelor) (3 years of studies), Master (5 years of studies) and/or Doctorate (8 years of studies) level courses delivered in Africa;
• targeted at a priority sector for the socio-economic development of the country or region, where training capacity is inadequate in relation to employment capacity;
• contribute to building the capacity and skills of the African institution to manage this sector; 
• explicitly promoting gender equality in terms of access and success;
• anticipate the academic and financial sustainability of the training partnership.

The winning projects will be supported for 4.5 years, at a cost of between €1.5m and €3m.

THE “AFRICA-FRANCE ACADEMIC PARTNERSHIPS” PROGRAMME (PeA)

The “Africa-France Academic Partnerships” (PeA) programme is funded by the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs via the French Development Agency (AFD), and implemented as part of France’s policy of aid to developing countries, with the support of the Ministry of Higher Education and Research (MESR), and is operated by the French National Research Agency (ANR), with the support of Campus France for project management and promotion. It reflects France’s political will to double the number of partnerships between African and French higher education establishments, and complements the policy of welcoming African students to France.

While strengthening the capacities of African institutions and the international influence of French institutions, the PeA aims to:

• Offer to male and female students of the African continent the opportunity to find in their country or region quality training courses as early as the Licence (Bachelor) course that match the needs of the socio-economic world;
• Guide players of the African and French higher education in their development of partnerships, and particularly in strategic industries for the economies of affected countries;
• Foster the mobility of students and teachers from a French institution to an African institution, in both ways. 

13 higher education projects between France and Africa already supported

The first two editions of the PeA have funded 13 projects in seven African countries, involving some fifty French and African higher education establishments.

In addition to the networking between African and French scientific communities, the PeA projects have already produced concrete results: overhaul of teaching models, launch of more than 10 new courses (bachelor’s and master’s degrees), teacher training, funding for around thirty doctoral students, support for international mobility and innovation, inauguration of an entrepreneurial village, development of relations with the socio-economic sector, receipt of equipment to professionalise courses. By 2027, nearly 4,000 students will be enrolled each year in the 13 programmes supported by the PeA.

The PeA call for projects: anr.fr – pea@agencerecherche.fr