Nairobi, Kenya · 15 June 2022 — Forty-four outstanding early- to mid-career African researchers across 38 countries have been awarded five-year fellowships of up to €500,000 each through the African Research Initiative for Scientific Excellence (ARISE) programme, marking the largest single-cohort investment in Africa's emerging scientific talent under the EU–AU Global Gateway partnership.
Funded by the European Union with an initial investment of €25 million in its pilot phase, ARISE is implemented by the African Academy of Sciences (AAS), with the European Commission and the African Union Commission serving as strategic oversight partners. The programme responds to what AAS leadership describes as an urgent need to strengthen Africa's science base by investing in researchers at a critical career stage — typically two to seven years post-PhD — when many African scientists face the starkest funding gaps and highest risk of leaving the continent.
A Competitive Selection from Nearly 1,000 Applicants
The 2022 ARISE fellows were competitively selected from a pool of 929 applicants, representing a success rate of approximately 4.7%. Their research spans a deliberately transdisciplinary range: renewable energy solutions, climate change adaptation, food security, health, and environmental problems most acute for people living in African countries.
The programme is explicitly modelled on the European Research Council (ERC) grant structure, which provides individual researchers with substantial, flexible funding to pursue frontier science. By adapting this model to the African context, ARISE aims to enable fellows not only to conduct cutting-edge research but also to train the next generation of postgraduate and postdoctoral students — building a multiplier effect within African universities and research institutions.
Retaining Talent on the Continent
A central objective of ARISE is talent retention. For decades, Africa has lost a significant proportion of its brightest scientific minds to institutions in Europe and North America, where funding infrastructure is more robust. By providing grants that are competitive by international standards and requiring that research be conducted at African universities or research institutions, ARISE directly addresses the brain drain that has constrained the continent's research output.
Professor Felix Dapare Dakora, President of the African Academy of Sciences, emphasised the strategic importance of targeting early- and mid-career researchers:
"The AAS recognizes that well-planned programmes supporting early- to mid-career researchers are critical in promoting scientific and research excellence and leadership in Africa. The ARISE programme will support the development of promising early- to mid-career researchers into world-class research leaders."
Professor Catherine Ngila, Acting Executive Director of the AAS, welcomed the inaugural cohort by framing the programme within a broader ecosystem of early-career support:
"The AAS welcomes the inaugural cohort of ARISE fellows to our growing early-to mid-career researchers' family. Early-to mid-career research support programmes are vital in training and developing rising research leaders whose scientific leadership will influence policies that will promote the socio-economic development of the continent and contribute to transforming lives in Africa through science."
A Deliverable of the AU–EU Summit
ARISE is positioned as a tangible deliverable of the 6th African Union–European Union Summit held in Brussels in February 2022, and forms part of the broader Global Gateway Africa–Europe Investment Package, which aims to mobilise up to €150 billion in investments between 2021 and 2027.
Jutta Urpilainen, the European Commissioner for International Partnerships, framed the programme within the EU's geopolitical strategy:
"Investing in higher education and research to create a knowledge-based society and economy in Africa is a key priority of the Global Gateway investment package for Africa and a tangible deliverable of the recent AU–EU Summit. The ARISE pilot programme is a great opportunity for talented early-career scientists, aiming to strengthen Africa's science and innovation base. It is a major step for the EU-Africa academic and scientific cooperation."
European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Mariya Gabriel connected ARISE to the AU–EU Innovation Agenda:
"The AU-EU Innovation Agenda, a flagship of the Global Gateway package, will propose specific short, medium and long-term actions, translating research and innovation outcomes rapidly into tangible solutions. The ARISE pilot programme builds the capacity of African researchers to deliver cutting-edge research transforming knowledge into innovation, generating sustainable economic growth and jobs."
Sustainability Science as the Unifying Theme
ARISE fellows are required to focus their research on what the programme terms "sustainability science" — a transdisciplinary approach that addresses interconnected challenges such as climate change, renewable energy, food security, and health. This framing reflects a growing consensus among African science policymakers that the continent's research priorities must be defined locally rather than imported from Northern funding agendas.
The programme's design also includes provisions for fellows to serve as role models within their institutions, complementing the work of participating African universities in building a critical mass of research leaders. Each fellow is expected to establish an independent research team, thereby multiplying the programme's impact beyond the individual grantee.
What Comes Next
The ARISE pilot phase represents a proof of concept. If the inaugural cohort demonstrates measurable outcomes — publications, trained postgraduate students, policy influence, and retained talent — the programme's architects hope it will be scaled up in subsequent phases. The €25 million pilot is modest compared to the scale of Africa's research funding gap, but it signals a structural shift in how international partners invest in African science: not through project-based contracts, but through long-term, flexible support for individual researchers.
For the 44 fellows, the next five years will determine whether they can build the teams, produce the science, and establish the leadership that the programme's designers envision. For African research institutions, the cohort represents an influx of independently funded principal investigators who can anchor research programmes and mentor the next generation.
Sources
- African Academy of Sciences, "44 outstanding early- to mid-career researchers in 38 African countries embark on five-year ARISE Fellowships valued at up to €500,000 each," 15 June 2022 —
- ARISE Programme Portal —
- European Commission, Global Gateway Africa–Europe Investment Package —
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