ESTDEV funds seven new projects to strengthen cooperation between Estonia and Africa

The 2025 call for proposals aims to support the development of Estonia’s strategic partner countries in Africa (Botswana, Kenya, Namibia and Uganda) by focusing on innovation in the twin transition, creating systemic changes in education, developing digital skills and a sustainable and systemic digital revolution in cooperation with the public and private sectors. 

Katrin Winter, ESTDEV’s regional head for Africa, said that proposals were based on areas where Estonian experts and organisations have had successful experience in Africa and in which partner countries have already expressed an interest. 

“The application round is part of the larger Estonian development cooperation programme in Africa. It aligns with the European Commission’s Global Gateway policy and supports the implementation of European joint initiatives in African countries in cooperation with other member states,” Winter said. 

“Our goal is for the African programme to form a coherent whole through local project rounds and European joint initiatives, which would effectively support the socio-economic development of African partner countries, but would also offer Estonian experts, companies and organisations an outlet for action in Africa,” said Winter. 

According to Winter, implementing projects funded in the rounds gives Estonian organisations the experience they need to develop new projects and attract additional funding from the European Commission or other international donors. 

Funded projects 

Projects funded from the 2025 application round help implement the long-term goals of Estonian development cooperation and support the sustainable implementation of both previous and ongoing projects and the amplification of results. 

The Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA) is collaborating with Kenyatta University, Kenyan NGO Act! and the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) Tallinn to create the Nairobi Circular Design Hub, which will focus on the development of circular design and the sustainable fashion industry in Kenya. The circular design centre will address industrial textile waste and train local designers and students.  Grant amount: 100,000 euros.

A project by Tallinn University of Technology will help bridge the digital divide in health care by updating the master’s programme in Health Informatics at Uganda's Makerere University in Uganda. The curriculum update will integrate Estonian best practices, increase e-health awareness and support the training of lecturers and students.  Grant amount: 94,973 euros.

AS BCS Koolitus will develop and pilot a digital skills and entrepreneurship training programme in Botswana. The programme, aimed at unemployed young people with higher education, will increase their digital skills, entrepreneurial competence and competitiveness in the labour market. The programme could develop into a sustainable training model, where participants can become future mentors-trainers in companies or local training and entrepreneurship centres. Grant amount: 94,895 euros.

In cooperation with the Estonian Girls' Technology Circle HK Unicorn Squad, NGO Mondo will create a model of natural and exact sciences subjects for Kenya and pilot its teaching in Kisumu County, Kenya. Four learning modules will be tested in girls' science clubs in three schools in the county. All teaching materials created for training the nine Kenyan specialists participating in the project and teaching over 300 girls will remain available to science clubs after the project ends. Grant amount: 94,761 euros.

A Tallinn University project focuses on developing teacher education in Kenya and increasing the pedagogical digital competence of teachers to support the targeted integration of educational technology into teaching and the implementation of learner-centred teaching methods. The project provides practical training in using digital technology and mentoring for teacher education teachers. Grant amount: 94,287 euros.

Garage48 is organising an agricultural technology-focused hackathon and accelerator programme in Kenya to support the sustainable development of agriculture. The project is a continuation of the agritech hackathon organised in Uganda last year, which brought together over 100 participants from all over the country. This time, a similar approach will be used in Kenya. Garage48 will cooperate with Kenyan government agencies to identify the problems to be solved in the hackathon and accelerator programme. Grant amount: 92,426 euros.

The NGO European Cybersecurity Initiative project aims to integrate cybersecurity into strategic management decisions of the Ugandan government and critical infrastructure institutions. While cybersecurity is an increasingly important topic, management often sees it as an IT topic and decisions are made in favour of more business-critical investments. The project will cover the basics of executive-level cybersecurity, risk management and business impacts, compliance requirements and obligations, crisis resolution, and a holistic security culture. Grant amount: 79,080 euros.

ESTDEV’s programme in Africa is based on the goals of the Estonian Foreign Policy Development Plan 2030, the Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid Strategy 2024–2030 and the Estonian Regional Strategy for Africa. When mapping cooperation opportunities, ESDTEV is guided by the needs and development goals of priority partner countries in Africa, focusing on areas where Estonia has strong added value to offer – supporting educational innovation, accelerating the digital and green transitions, and developing entrepreneurship.