Funding Opportunities

The AU-EU Youth Action Lab Entrepreneurship Grants provide €31,500 to youth-led organisations in 12 African countries to strengthen economic opportunities for young people. In the third and final 2026 call, the grants focus specifically on advocacy for an enabling environment where young entrepreneurs can start and grow their businesses. Projects will run for 12 months from January to December 2027.

The AU–EU Youth Action Lab Innovation Grants provide €42,000 to youth-led organisations in 12 African countries to design, test, adapt, scale or improve innovative solutions addressing global challenges. Selected organisations will implement their projects for 12 months and receive mentorship, capacity development and opportunities to connect with peers and decision-makers across Africa and Europe.

The AU–EU Youth Action Lab is offering 13 Innovation Grants of EUR 42,000 each to eligible youth-led nonprofit organisations in 12 African countries, including Uganda. The grants support young people to design, test, adapt, improve or scale innovative solutions to global challenges while creating tangible local impact and longer-term systems, policy or practice change. Projects will run for 12 months from January to December 2027.

Education Cannot Wait, through its Acceleration Facility, is seeking a qualified organisation, project developer or technical service provider to design and implement an innovative two-year pilot deploying clean cooking solutions and other climate mitigation activities in Ethiopian schools. The selected partner will establish a robust monitoring, reporting and verification system, generate high-quality carbon credits and test how climate finance can provide sustainable additional financing for education while improving school environments.

Africa No Filter, in partnership with Comic Relief, is inviting African journalists, content creators and other storytellers from 10 eligible countries, including Uganda, to participate in Voices for Climate Justice. Selected storytellers will receive grants of up to US$4,000, training, mentorship and content amplification to produce compelling stories connecting climate justice with gender, debt and fossil fuels in Africa.

The Science Granting Councils Initiative is inviting multi-country African research consortia to submit Expressions of Interest for major collaborative research projects supporting STISA-2034. Projects may focus on agriculture, health, artificial intelligence and digital technologies, energy or environment, with funding of approximately CAD 50,000–CAD 300,000 per participating consortium member for projects lasting up to 36 months.

The SHARPER Consortium is inviting applications for its 2026 Catalyst Grants, offering US$15,000 in seed funding to early-career African researchers developing innovative ideas in epidemic and pandemic sciences. Up to eight grants will support six-month projects that strengthen Africa’s preparedness and response to epidemics and pandemics.

UNESCO and the Government of Japan are offering 10 research fellowships of up to US$10,000 to young researchers from eligible countries, including Uganda and 46 other African countries. Fellows will undertake postgraduate research for three to nine months at a Japanese university or research institution in areas related to heritage conservation, sustainable development and artificial intelligence.

The African Centre for School Leadership is offering research grants to African researchers conducting practical, policy-relevant research on school leadership. Funding supports single-context and comparative studies that can strengthen leadership practice, education policy, learning outcomes and inclusive education systems across Africa.

The African Union Commission is selecting 100 youth- and women-led African enterprises for a 12-month business-acceleration fellowship. Participants will receive structured training, mentorship, intellectual-property support, AfCFTA market intelligence and market-entry assistance designed to strengthen cross-border growth and investment readiness.

The Africa-Europe Partnerships for Culture: Southern Africa programme is inviting individual artists and creative practitioners from six Southern African countries to collaborate on contemporary reinterpretations of cultural heritage narratives. A total of 99 practitioners will join 11 interdisciplinary Heritage Narrative Clusters, with each selected participant receiving a €6,000 grant and taking part in a six-month collaborative development process culminating in co-produced creative works and public presentations.

The GFF × CIVIC VOICES consortium is inviting local civil society, youth-led and community-based organisations in 22 African countries to form advocacy partnerships that strengthen domestic resource mobilisation, accountability and meaningful civil society participation in health decision-making. Up to US$3.35 million will be awarded across the programme, with selected partnerships receiving grants of up to 18 months alongside advocacy training, budget-analysis technical assistance and mentorship.

Doria Feminist Fund has opened Grantmaking Cycle 7 to support new, emerging and established feminist groups and collectives working across the Middle East and North Africa. Applicants can seek flexible core funding, project support or knowledge production funding, with selected grantee partners also receiving accompaniment, capacity strengthening and networking support. Registered and unregistered feminist groups are eligible, and applications may be submitted in Arabic, English or French.

The University of Calgary International Entrance Scholarship provides CAD 20,000 annually to two outstanding international students entering their first undergraduate year in Fall 2027. The award may be renewed for three additional years, giving it a maximum potential value of CAD 80,000, provided the recipient meets the academic and international-student renewal conditions.

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of African Affairs is offering large-scale cooperative agreements of US$5 million to US$50 million under the U.S.-Africa Strategic Investment Program. The programme supports market-based, private-sector-led economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa through Critical Minerals Investment and Commercial Diplomacy Acceleration.

The SHARPER Consortium is offering three Research & Innovation Fellowship Grants of US$40,000 each to exceptional early-career African investigators developing high-impact research in epidemic preparedness, outbreak analytics and health-system resilience. The six-month fellowships combine research funding with scientific mentorship, institutional support, leadership development and collaboration across SHARPER’s Pan-African network.

Africa CDC is inviting young African professionals to apply for the two-year Africa Epidemic Services Public Health Informatics Fellowship. The programme combines practical and classroom-based training to strengthen digital health, health information systems, data science and public-health informatics capacity across African health institutions.

The DIV Fund is accepting rolling applications for evidence-driven innovations that can cost-effectively improve the lives of people living in poverty. Funding ranges from up to US$200,000 for real-world pilots to US$1.5 million for proven innovations transitioning to scale, with opportunities open across sectors in low-, lower-middle- and upper-middle-income countries. Applicants must already have a post-prototype innovation that has been tested with real users.

The Van Doorn Foundation provides project grants of up to €5,000 to eligible educational institutions and local organisations in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia working to improve access to vocational training and employment opportunities for vulnerable and disadvantaged young people aged 14–28. Funding can support training equipment and materials, disability-inclusive vocational training, tuition assistance, apprenticeships, internships and tools that help young people move into employment or self-employment.

Madica is a rolling pre-seed investment programme supporting promising technology-driven startups operating across Africa. Selected companies may receive up to US$200,000 in investment together with 18 months of mentorship, executive coaching, peer learning, investor access, immersion experiences and tailored company-building support. The programme particularly seeks to improve access to capital for underrepresented and underfunded African founders.

UNDP is inviting CreativeTech startups across Africa to join the timbuktoo Launchpad, a pan-African incubation programme supporting technology-enabled businesses in the creative economy. Selected startups receive structured incubation, mentorship, digital tools, investment-readiness support and access to founders, investors and innovation partners across Africa.

UNDP is inviting AgriTech startups to join the timbuktoo Launchpad, a pan-African venture-building and incubation programme supporting technology-driven solutions for Africa’s agricultural transformation. Selected startups receive incubation, mentorship, digital tools, investment-readiness support and access to a continental network of founders, investors and innovation partners.

The Fast Forward Accelerator supports early-stage tech and AI-powered nonprofits worldwide with USD 25,000 or more in unrestricted funding, expert mentorship and a three-month programme covering technology, fundraising and nonprofit growth. Applications for the 2027 cohort are expected to open in late July 2026, but the exact deadline and application form have not yet been announced.

Rapid funding for African women human rights defenders, organisations and movements responding to urgent, unanticipated and strategic situations.