Calling African Healthcare & Climate ventures – Apply for the 2026 cohort of AUDA-NEPAD’s Home Grown Solutions Accelerator

We are pleased to announce that the Home Grown Solutions (HGS) Accelerator, which is being implemented under the AUDA-NEPAD collaboration, has started accepting applications.

Apply by the 19^th of May 2026 to be part of the 2026 cohort of the AUDA-NEPAD Home Grown Solutions Accelerator, designed to support growth and mature stage African ventures in healthcare and now expanding to cover early, growth and mature-stage climate ventures!

HGS Accelerator offers hands-on, highly tailored support in order to help each selected company improve and grow. HGS Accelerator is an initiative of the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), financially supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Originally founded in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to strengthen Africa's health systems, the programme is proud to expand its mandate in 2026 for the first time to also support companies contributing to climate resilience.

In order to qualify, ventures must qualify 3 criteria depending on the sector they are applying under:

For health ventures:

1. You can be described as a Home Grown Solution, meaning you must …
• Operate mainly or solely in Africa (preference for companies operating across countries)
• Employ mostly local staff in the markets in which you are active
• Have strong African representation in your leadership

2. You are a growth or mature stage venture, meaning you must …
• Be registered as a for-profit entity
• Express ambition and potential to scale beyond your current size
• Demonstrate clear market traction and sizable customer base
• Growth stage: You have identified a strong product-market fit in your core offering / have proven the core concept of your venture, and are in the process of scaling and growing your venture
• Mature stage: You have successfully proven that your core offering is viable at scale, ideally across multiple markets

3. You strengthen Africa's health system, for example …
• You manufacture medical consumables or devices on the continent
• You provide healthcare services to patients, be it diagnostic, treatment or otherwise
• You provide technology solutions to strengthen health access or delivery

For climate ventures:

1. You can be described as a Home Grown Solution, meaning you must …
• Operate mainly or solely in Africa (preference for companies operating across countries)
• Employ mostly local staff in the markets in which you are active
• Have strong African representation in your leadership

2. You are an early, growth or mature stage venture, meaning you must …
• Be registered as a for-profit entity
• Express ambition and potential to scale beyond your current size
• Demonstrate clear market traction and sizable customer base
• Early stage: You are still proving product-market fit and/or viability of your core offering
• Growth stage: You have identified a strong product-market fit in your core offering / have proven the core concept of your venture, and are in the process of scaling and growing your venture
• Mature stage: You have successfully proven that your core offering is viable at scale, ideally across multiple markets

3. You strengthen Africa's climate resilience in the focus sub-sectors, for example …
• You manufacture or distribute clean energy products or services
• You provide sustainable mobility or transport solutions
• You manage waste or develop circular economy solutions
• You develop or implement nature-based solutions

For healthcare ventures apply here: Calling African Healthcare Ventures – Apply for the 2026 cohort of AUDA-NEPAD’s Home Grown Solutions Accelerator (External Link)

For climate ventures apply here: Calling African Climate businesses – Apply for the 2026 cohort of AUDA-NEPAD’s Home Grown Solutions Accelerator (External Link)

Questions? Please contact: HGSAHealthSol@auda-nepad.org

For more information, please check the uploaded PDF from the links below: