Africa is experiencing increasing climate variability and more frequent extreme weather events, with significant consequences for agriculture, water systems, energy infrastructure, public health, and livelihoods. Recent continental assessments point to growing exposure to droughts, floods, heatwaves, and related risks, while also highlighting persistent gaps in early warning systems, climate services, and localised decision-support tools. At the same time, artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly recognised as a potentially important enabler of climate resilience to improve forecasting, optimisation, classification, and decision support. The practical use of AI in Africa, however, remains constrained by limited research funding, fragmented data ecosystems, and uneven digital infrastructure. As a result, many promising AI solutions developed in universities remain at the proof-of-concept stage.
The Call for Proposals invites university-based research teams in Eastern and Southern Africa to advance their existing AI-enabled proof-of-concepts into demonstrable, user-oriented applications that contribute to climate adaptation, resilience, and sustainable development within a one-year implementation period. The call aims to support projects to move beyond the prototype stage into real or near-real operating environments to be used by identified institutions, communities, or decision-makers. Priority shall be given to applications that address immediate and observable climate risks affecting communities, institutions, or economic sectors; support decision-making under uncertainty, especially in data-constrained settings; build on datasets, infrastructure, or institutional relationships that already exist; and can deliver practical value within twelve months. Projects with superficial use of AI or unnecessary technical complexity shall not be funded. Project proposals must clearly show that the use of AI improves predictive capability, operational efficiency, or decision-making when compared with non-AI alternatives.
At the end of the project, funded teams must have a demonstrable application, that is a functional, user-accessible system or tool that has been deployed or piloted in a real or near-real operational environment and that shows practical utility for a defined user group, such as a government agency, cooperative, community organisation, or service provider. That evidence may then be used by the applicant to seek follow-on funding, institutional adoption, partnership support, or broader scaling opportunities. Demonstration at local or institutional level is sufficient, provided the system is operational and user-facing. Strong proposals will identify specific users, articulate locally relevant climate challenges, and show an understanding of the data sources, operational realities, and implementation conditions of the intended setting. They will therefore build on existing assets, leverage available data and infrastructure, and focus resources on achieving a credible and contextually grounded demonstration within the available timeframe. The grants are funded by the European Union under the AfricaConnect 4 project.
Quick Facts:
- Funding amount: US$ 10,000
- Duration: 12 months
- Target: Proof-of-concept to demonstrable application
- Key requirement: Existing working prototype
- Eligibility: University-led teams from UbuntuNet Alliance member countries (Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe)
- Number of awards: 16.
Key dates:
- July 1, 2026 – Call Opens
- July 20, 2026, 9:00-11:00 hrs (CAT) and July 21, 2026, 9:00-11:00 hrs (CAT) – Optional Grant Proposal Writing Workshop Part I and II (online). Registration required: https://ubuntunet.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_cSMEvx5zRDa2EI7_8F81uA.
- August 31, 2026, midnight (applicants time zone) – Submission deadline. Proposals must be submitted as a single PDF file via email to grants@ubuntunet.net.
- October 1, 2026 – Announcement of awardees.
- November 1, 2026 – Anticipated projects start date.
- October 31, 2027 – Projects completed.
- October 28-29, 2027 – Projects showcase at UbuntuNet Connect 2027 Conference.
- November 30, 2027 – Final Project Reports submitted.