Application Now Open For British Council UK‐Africa IAU Enterprise and Innovation Challenge (Up to £60,000)

A new grant opportunity offers universities in the UK, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa the chance to partner on a program for student teams developing digital, green, and social enterprises. If you lead a higher education or research institution, this could be a way to shape impact, build networks, and accelerate innovation in student ventures.

Key Highlights

This call aims to strengthen the capacities of student ventures at universities by offering tailored support and mentorship. A few important aspects:

• In contrast with smaller project grants, this is an ecosystem grant, meaning it supports not only individual student teams but structures around them: mentorship, assessment, support frameworks, all aimed at helping ventures move toward commercialisation.
• The requirement for UK-lead and African-lead institutions working jointly means this is also about building sustainable collaboration beyond a one-off project.
• For student ventures, this offer goes beyond seed funding; it’s a chance to access strategic support: SWOT analyses, actionable frameworks, tools, and mentoring. These are often missing in early stage support, especially in many African university settings.
• If previous programs focused mostly on idea generation or small-scale pilots, this grant emphasizes progress toward implementation and commercial viability. That adds accountability and potential for impact.

Tips & FAQs

• Tip: Begin early. Even though the deadline is end-October, preparing a strong proposal needs time: securing institutional support, drafting joint plans with partners in both the UK and your country, gathering CVs, letters, budgeting.
• Tip: Be explicit on commercialisation. Proposals that clearly show how ventures can move beyond prototype into market adoption (or at least well-planned pilot deployment) are more credible.
• Tip: Clarify roles. Define who does what — UK lead, African lead, associated partners. Review eligibility carefully, especially capacity to handle funds and administrative requirements.
• Eligibility clarification:
  • The UK lead must be a recognised higher education provider with degree-awarding powers or a similar institution.
  • The African lead must be similarly a higher education institution, research or TVET/FE provider, and must be able to administer the grant.
  • For-profit, non-educational organisations cannot receive the grant funds directly (beyond travel costs) but can be associated as partners.
• Common mistakes to avoid:
  • Submitting after deadline (strict).
  • Missing one of the required leads (UK or Africa) or not having the correct institutional type.
  • Underestimating administrative or compliance requirements (e.g. ethical approvals, financial controls, letters of support).

Application Details

How to Apply

1. Form a partnership: one lead institution in the UK + one lead institution in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria or South Africa. Include any associated partners as needed.
2. Prepare proposal in English. Include project plan, SWOT for selected student teams, frameworks for support, evidence of capability.
3. Gather required documents: budget template, CVs, support letters confirming institutional capacity and commitment.
4. Submit via Good Grants platform before 17:00 GMT on 31 October 2025. (britishcouncil.org.ng)

Contacts & Resources

• For questions: SSAhighereducation@britishcouncil.org (britishcouncil.org.za)
• Download guidance documents (application guide, budget template) from British Council website. (britishcouncil.org.ng)

Apply HERE British Council “Call for Ecosystem Partner for the IAU Enterprise and Innovation Challenge”, September 2025