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Innovation at AFD Group: Funding, supporting, anticipating
Whether social, technological, financial, or methodological, innovation is central to AFD Group’s activity and to the action of the two funds it hosts: the French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM) and the Fund for Innovation in Development (FID). It is implemented through the financing of projects that offer new solutions, the support of initiatives, and the creation of spaces for exchange that renew our practices. By mobilizing these levers, AFD Group strengthens the effectiveness of its work and contributes to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Pillar 1: Financing and implementing innovative projects
AFD Group mobilises expertise and financing to support initiatives that open up new pathways in areas such as education, governance, or support for entrepreneurs. They shape concrete solutions that help build more inclusive and sustainable development.
- Harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) for innovation
Now an essential tool, AI can help address social, economic and environmental challenges. In Senegal, for example, French is the mother tongue of only a minority of teachers and pupils. This is why the NGO Libraries Without Borders is piloting an AI-enhanced French learning application for teachers in the cities of Dakar and Thiès, with support from AFD.
- Fostering open government and transparency
Through the #PAGOF project, AFD and Expertise France support public administrations and civil society organisations in French-speaking African countries in developing digital public policies that meet the standards of the Open Government Partnership (transparency, citizen participation, accountability, etc.). A guide, available online, brings together good practices drawn from these countries’ experiences.
- Supporting high-impact start-ups
Often created in response to underserved or unmet needs, African start-ups can generate significant impact. However, access to funding remains a major challenge. Co-financed by several institutions (including PROPARCO, through AFD Group’s FISEA+ Facility), the ARAF fund supports food security and climate change mitigation. It invests in start-ups offering innovative solutions to improve the livelihoods and climate resilience of smallholder farmers in East and West Africa.
Innovation is not a one-way process. Some of the projects supported by AFD Group can, in turn, inspire other regions.
SPOTLIGHT ON... The resilience of French forests
Collaboration between Turkish and French scientists is enabling research into how trees can adapt to climate change. Since Turkey’s current climate closely resembles the future climate projected for France, French oak seeds have been planted in several locations across Turkey to test their resilience to changing conditions. This will help France prioritise the most robust species in the future.
AFD Group & innovation
Pillar 2: Amplifying impacts through innovation
To help innovations emerge and be deployed on a larger scale, AFD Group provides tailored support to meet the needs of its teams and partners. The Group also conducts impact evaluations of projects, generating lessons to inform continuous improvement.
Planning a second phase for each project to multiply its impact — by expanding its scope and engaging new partners — is the aim of the “scaling up” approach. This is even more effective when it is integrated from the very start of a project.
Within AFD Group, innovation is also seen as a lever for internal transformation. Our flagship initiative is the Intrapreneurship programme. Now in its sixth season, the programme enables staff to develop their ideas within an internal incubator. These ideas are tested, connected with relevant networks and scaled up when they demonstrate impact. Since 2018, 32 projects have been supported.
Innovative practices, such as the use of satellite data or artificial intelligence, are used to measure the impact of projects supported by AFD Group.
Find out more about evaluations at AFD
SPOTLIGHT ON... The use of satellite data for impact evaluations
The use of satellite data, for instance, makes it possible to assess impact ex post, particularly when impacts are visible from space, when areas are vast or hard to access, or when collecting impact indicators would be costly. In the Congo Basin, satellite data have been used to measure the reforestation impact of projects financed by AFD Group in the region.
Partnerships are key in this area. To move faster and go further, AFD Group — together with KfW, GIZ and IRD — initiated the MapMe initiative. It enables development practitioners to exchange good practices, share data and receive training on the use of satellite data.
Pillar 3: Co-creating innovation for a better tomorrow
Within AFD Group, innovation is built on an open and collaborative ecosystem, bringing together institutional partners, think tanks, tech experts, researchers and civil society organisations to reflect on and prepare for the challenges of tomorrow.
As a training centre, AFD Group Campus is a laboratory for pedagogical innovation. It works with partners to design, test and deploy innovative learning formats tailored to reinforcing the knowledge, know-how and interpersonal skills of those who are helping to bring about change towards a sustainable world.
AFD’s Emerging Tech Lab produces analyses and conducts experiments on emerging technologies (AI, data, Earth observation tools and data, cloud computing, etc.), following a responsible innovation approach. Its work helps shed light on key issues and inform decision-making.
SPOTLIGHT ON... The AI Investment Potential Index (AIIPI)
One example: Developed by AFD, the AI Investment Potential Index (AIIPI) helps guide public and private investment decisions to address countries’ specific AI needs and promote inclusive and sustainable development.
TechTalks: Innovation driving transitions
Do you want to understand the role of digital transformation in the development of countries? Whether you are an industry expert or simply curious about technological advances, #TechTalks webinars provide you with the keys to understanding the impact of digital technology on economic, social, and environmental transitions worldwide.
Two innovation support funds hosted by AFD Group: FFEM and FID
AFD hosts and contributes to the governance of two flagship funds supporting France’s public action for sustainable development and innovation: the French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM), active since 1994, and the Fund for Innovation in Development (FID), established in 2021 and chaired by Esther Duflo, 2019 Nobel Prize laureate in Economic Sciences.
Created in 1994 by the French government, the FFEM is a financial instrument dedicated to global environment protection and sustainable development. By financing pilot projects in developing countries, it has been taking concrete action for the past 30 years to to preserve biodiversity, the climate, international waters, land and the ozone layer, and to combat pollution.
Its ambition is to test solutions, demonstrate their impact and scale them up widely. Working in partnership with public and private stakeholders as well as civil society, the FFEM has already supported more than 400 projects in 120 countries, mainly in Africa and the Mediterranean, contributing to the achevement the SDGs.
SPOTLIGHT ON... The management of waste electrical and electronic equipment
The WEEECAM project aims to structure the collection and treatment of waste electrical and electronic equipment in Cameroon, reducing pollution and health risks linked to informal waste management. The project seeks to establish a sustainable and replicable model in Africa by strengthening local capacities and the institutional framework.
FID is an innovative mechanism, created in 2021 and hosted by AFD, dedicated to supporting projects at different stages of their development. It finances social, technological and organisational innovations to combat poverty and inequality.
At the heart of its approach: synergies between innovation and research teams to pilot, test and evaluate the impact of projects using rigorous scientific methods. FID’s ambition is to contribute, in the long term, to the transformation of public policies by supporting the scaling up of innovations whose effectiveness has been proven.
SPOTLIGHT ON... Menstrual health & education
In Madagascar, CARE’s "Young Girl Leaders" initiative seeks to combat stigma related to menstruation, which can negatively affect school performance. Evaluated in 140 schools, the programme has shown promising results, with a 17% increase in the likelihood of girls progressing to the next grade.
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